Swansong
by Dal Niente
Summary: Minion may not be as lost as he seems, but in the meantime, Megamind is struggling to pick up the threads of a life he's not sure he knows how to live and Roxanne is determined to help where she can.
1. Chapter 1

Happy anniversary! Short chapter for what will be a short fic. This is the result of an idea Ramendobe posted on Tumblr, and this is ultimately what broke me out of my writer's block. The original prompt can be found here: .com (slash) post (slash) 116636620765 (slash) megamind (dash) fanfiction (dash) idea.

This fic is somewhat less angsty than the actual prompt, mostly because I struggle to write emotions as raw as the ones Ramendobe described, but I think the essence is there. :) And I figure, hey, might as well start posting it for the anniversary, right? Good lord, has it really been five years? *raises glass* HERE'S TO YOU GUYS. AND HERE'S TO FIVE MORE FANTABULOUS YEARS.

(& yes, I'm still working on Twelve Days! :) I've got about half the next chapter done, no se preocupen, amigos 333)

 **Chapter 1**

 **In the Early Morning Rain – Peter, Paul & Mary**

Roxanne puts her tablet down on her lap and turns to look out the glass balcony doors of her apartment at the spring evening. It's been one of the nicest days Metro City has seen so far, this year—temperatures in the low seventies, big fluffy clouds, warm sun, cool wind—and she can't stop worrying.

It's too quiet. She sighs, twirling her stylus absently between her fingers as she stares at the sunset-fire lighting up the windows of the building across the street.

"Where are you?" she wonders, but there's no answer. There never is, anymore.

Shaking her head, she shoves her concerns to the back of her mind—a feat which is getting increasingly difficult—and stands up to make dinner. Dinner, and then she'll read for a bit or maybe watch a movie, and then she'll sleep. Then wake up, breakfast, work, lunch, work, home, read, dinner again, and—this is how Roxanne's life goes now: an absence of kidnappings, a lack of lasers, a dearth of spikes, and nervousness gnawing the base of her spine.

If Megamind doesn't want to kidnap her anymore, fine; she'd like to know the villain is alive, at least. Nobody's heard anything from him in months.

Well, tomorrow's Wednesday, so she'll be meeting up with Metro Man for lunch. That'll be a break in the monotony, and who knows? He might have some news for her.

She's not holding her breath, though; nobody's heard anything from Megamind since last July. It's already May again, unseasonably warm and unreasonably calm.

She's starting to miss the bad old days.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"I gotta say, Roxie," Metro Man says the next day, as lunch is winding down, "off the record? I'm starting to get really concerned, here."

She knows how he feels. The sick-worry feeling in the pit of her stomach hasn't left her alone in a while. "Me too. I think you'd better widen your search."

"Yeah?" He raises his eyebrows. "I was thinking about calling it off."

Roxanne stares at him. "You can't be serious."

Metro Man grimaces, but he doesn't look like he was joking. "I don't like it, either, but it's been months. Maybe it's time we tried something different."

He isn't wrong. Nearly ten months have passed since they started looking, but nobody Roxanne has asked has seen either Megamind or Minion. She's asked everyone she can think of—some people more than once—and her list of contacts isn't short. Even her friends on the less-than-legal side of things are beginning to sound unsettled.

Something's wrong. They know Megamind isn't holed up working on a doozy of a plan this time because Metro Man lost his patience a while back and broke into the Lair—he's known where it is for ages, though he's always disavowed all knowledge when asked—and he'd found it standing empty, with dust settling in the corners and darkened brainbots lying scattered on the floor. Neither of his nemeses were anywhere to be seen, and judging by the remains of what was in Megamind's refrigerator, the Lair had been sitting vacant for some time.

That was before winter had set in, and now it's almost summer. Who knows what the Lair looks like now?

The worst part is that Roxanne hadn't even been able to act surprised when Metro Man told her what he'd found. She'd known there was something wrong long before that; she could feel it in her bones. Hearing that the Lair was abandoned only made her worry more, especially when the mercury fell below zero and stayed there.

But what can she do but keep asking? She's been looking, too, and all her best efforts have turned up diddly squat. Megamind hides his tracks well; even Metro Man's x-ray vision and super-hearing haven't turned up much. ("It's not a generalized thing, Roxie," he'd explained. "I need to know where to listen and what to listen for. If you wanted to know if he was in the Sachs building, I could tell you, but I can't just listen for a heartbeat across the whole _city_.")

(Megamind had not been in the Sachs building.)

(Roxanne had asked.)

Now she stares at the hero across from her, incredulous. "So, it's been months, so what?" she says. "We can't just stop looking. We can't leave them out there. You just said you were worried, how can you—"

"Roxie, you know those guys." Metro Man has both his massive hands wrapped around a latte like he's got a chill, never mind the warm weather. "If they don't want to be found, they won't be."

"Okay, that's…true, I guess. But your big solution is for us to give _up?_ "

"No, not give up," he replies quickly, "just…stop looking. Kinda. They probably know we're searching for them, so they're being careful…but maybe if we stop looking so hard, one of them will relax a little." He shrugs, accidentally bumping his shoulder into someone carrying a tray past their table, and then he has to hyper-accelerate and reposition the drinks on the tray to keep them from falling. Being big is not always an advantage.

Roxanne's smirking at him when he slows back down again. "Nice save, clumsy."

"Nothing spilled," he protests, then returns to the subject at hand. "My point is, maybe they'll make a mistake and we'll get a lead. False sense of security, you know?"

Roxanne shakes her head. "You _are_ serious. I don't believe it."

"You got a better idea?" Metro Man stares at her, challenging, finally letting some of his frustration show. "I'd love to hear it, if you do. Nothing else has worked."

"W—Metro Man, what if Megamind is hurt?" she asks sharply, and he looks away. "What if he's sick? You know this wasn't a good winter for the homeless population; what if Minion froze out there somewhere? I'd at least like to know they're not dead."

Metro Man's lips are thin, but he's still shaking his head. "He wouldn't endanger Minion like that. No, they must've hidden somewhere warm, I'm not…too worried about that. I just…" He sighs. "I dunno what else to do, Roxie. Nothing's worked and I'm out of ideas."

Roxanne bites her lip and settles back in the booth, stares out the window at the bustling lunch-hour street. She doesn't like it, but…

"And I've got a job to do," Metro Man adds, more quietly. "And it's, like, four times harder without him running backup behind the scenes. Doing all that and looking for him, too, it's—I'm—I'm going outta my mind, here."

It's Roxanne's turn to sigh. She knows he's been working overtime, and he'd already been on-call twenty-four seven when this whole mess started. "Okay. It's…worth trying, I guess. I'll let the others know." She offers him a half-smile. "You're looking better, by the way."

He grins, but it doesn't look particularly genuine. "I got new under-eye concealer. Use Cle de Peau under the regular goop, blend it all in, and poof." He twirls his wrists like a magician. "Adios, dark circles."

Roxanne almost chokes on her water. "Are you serious? After all that crap you gave me about how—how 'Narcs' or whatever is the best brand ever, you're switching?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm the Hero of Hypocrite City." He rolls his eyes. "I'll get you a tube so you can try."

She snorts, but thanks him. Metro Man has spent his whole life in front of the camera and he knows what he's doing. He also doesn't care about budgets. Makeup isn't a valid work expense, according to her boss, so if her friend wants to buy her new face goop…well, that's fine by her.

She looks away again, out at the daylight street.

Megamind and Minion have to be out there, somewhere. They'd never leave Metro City without telling her. She honestly believes that, even if she isn't sure why.

They should keep looking. She wants to keep looking. But Metro Man is right: nothing else has worked, and if they stop, then maybe—just maybe—Megamind will come out long enough that someone will see him. It's the best they can hope for, even though what she didn't tell Metro Man is that Megamind doesn't _make_ mistakes, not really, not when it matters.

All she can think is that he's hurt or sick somewhere. Maybe Minion took him someplace to recover from a battle wound. Maybe they pissed off the wrong people and had to go into hiding? She doesn't know.

And she shouldn't even care, really, but Megamind has been such a presence in her life for such a long time that he's become…well, sortof a friend, when push came to shove. He'd helped her out of a couple tight spots and Roxanne had helped him with his reputation in return, and she'd thought maybe they were coming to a kind of understanding. She'd even quietly hoped they might someday have a relationship like the one she has with Metro Man, because on the rare occasions when Megamind wasn't bouncing off the walls and cackling, he'd been…nice. Fun to talk to. Witty with a sense of humor. He's certainly someone she wouldn't mind being better friends with. Even when he _was_ bouncing around, he'd been fun.

But now he's gone. Vanished into thin air, as far as anyone knows. Megamind has been missing for almost a year and Roxanne sometimes wonders whether she's entirely sane, worrying herself sick over a guy she barely knows who used to regularly kidnap and threaten her. Sure, it was all for show, but…

Anyway. Life goes on, and lunch is over, and she and Metro Man both have jobs to get back to.

She's almost all the way to the newsroom when her cell phone rings. It's her boss, telling her to get her ass into the office pronto so they can get her over to cover a house fire across town. They've already got most of the crew on the way over. "I'm coming down Lime right now, I'll be there in five," Roxanne promises, breaking into a jog. _This is why I wear flats…_

"Be there in two," Carl tells her, and hangs up.

"Dick," she mutters, and shoves her phone back into her purse.

Luckily, a news van pulls up a minute later and rolls down its passenger side window. "Hey, Roxaroo, where's the fire?" Hal calls, grinning.

Roxanne rolls her eyes and hops into the van before it's even fully stopped moving without breaking stride. "Thanks, Hal, you're a lifesaver."

She's been working with Hal since November, when Paula quit to spend more time with her kids. Hal's a little weird but a good cameraman all the same, and it's a harmless sort of weird. The sort that makes 'where's the fire' jokes about possible arson.

"Yup," Hal says happily. "Hang on tight!" He spins the wheel and they pull away.

Roxanne is willing to overlook Hal's off-color humor in favor of the fact that he drives like the mad offspring of an immortal taxicab driver and the kind of speed demon that is literally on speed. It's terrifying, but they haven't gotten in any accidents so far and it can be really useful when they're running behind and still want to arrive before anyone else from their channel. Which they do. _Ha, ha, bite me, Carl_ , Roxanne thinks.

"How do I look? No spinach in my teeth?" She turns to Hal and smiles.

" _Total_ bombshell, as always," he tells her, barely glancing over.

It would be less weird if he didn't sound quiteso sincere all the time. Oh, well.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Next week's lunch date is canceled because Roxanne is swamped at work, but the following Wednesday finds her and Metro Man discussing the city's missing supervillain over breakfast at sunrise in a diner in midtown. "Anything?" Roxanne asks.

"Nope. Give it time, Roxie," he says, shifting uncomfortably in the narrow booth.

"It's been _ten months_ ," she replies. "It's almost June!"

"You know what I mean. Let him get his bearings, let him relax a little."

She folds her arms over her chest and stares at him. "How are you so certain that he's even out there?" she says.

Metro Man shrugs, careful this time not to upset any waiters. "Dunno. Just a hunch, I guess."

"Ugh, fine," Roxanne mutters. She's grumpy because it's early, not because she's worried. She shouldn't be worried. Why would she be worried?

 _Where are you?_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Her answer, as it turns out, comes the very next day.

Morning dawns prettily enough, though the clouds are a little flatter than they've been for the past few days. Roxanne walks to work since the weather's nice, but by the time she gets out that evening, those clouds have turned low and angry gray and it's raining like there's no tomorrow. That's _great_ , just _fantastic_ , because this is Metro City in the rain; Roxanne can't catch a cab for love or money. And she hadn't brought her umbrella with her this morning, just her windbreaker. At least it has a hood.

She takes her usual rainy shortcut home. It involves a lot of alleys, but that's what mace is for, right? It's not like she's never taken a self-defense class. And the alleys in midtown Metro are reasonably safe. Honestly, she's just lucky she lives close enough to the office that walking is even a viable option.

So she's walking down one of the back roads, skirting puddles and potholes, trying to stay close to the sides of buildings. Her hood is up and her hands are in her pockets—one on her knife, the other on her can of pepper spray—and she's keeping an eye out in front of her, squinting and blinking through raindrops, when she sees a manhole cover in the middle of the next block shift up and sideways.

She squints. _What the…?_

At least, she _thinks_ it's a manhole cover, but it's far away and early evening and the rain is making everything gray, and she knows (from a fluff piece involving ducklings and firefighters at the beginning of her career) those covers are heavy. She stops walking and peers through the drops, and then her eyebrows fly up, because the person hauling themselves up to street level has a silhouette she recognizes even from this distance, even in the rain.

She freezes. _Megamind_ , she thinks, but no, it can't be. It's been almost a year, and now, two weeks after they've stopped searching, now he shows up? No way.

"Megamind?" She half-jumps at the sound of her own voice. She hadn't meant to say anything; luckily, it doesn't seem like he's heard her. He just…walks over to the back of the café he's next to and disappears into shadows and mist.

" _No_ ," Roxanne mutters, already running. He can't just vanish again, he can't, she won't let him—

He's sitting on the back step. She hadn't seen him because he'd sat down so quickly, dropped out of sight behind a dumpster that was obscuring her view.

Roxanne slows and stops, then stands for a moment and stares at him. It _is_ him; he's unmistakable even sitting with his forehead on his knees like that, but Roxanne has never seen him out of uniform like this. He's wearing a grubby zip-up hoodie and jeans over a pair of battered high-top sneakers that already look soaking wet. His customary gloves are missing and his knuckles are cut and bleeding where his long hands are netted over the back of his neck. Everything about him looks tired.

"Megamind," Roxanne says again, and Megamind nearly startles out of his skin, jerking back and staring up at her in shock. _Not just tired_ , she realizes, equally surprised, _miserable_. There are heavy shadows under his eyes and in his cheeks, and the lines around his mouth are deeper than she's ever seen. Has he stopped eating?

She stares. This is way worse than she'd expected. She'd halfway thought that when they found Megamind, if they found him, he'd laugh at them for ever being the least bit concerned and then he'd try to blow Metro Man off the face of the earth and everything would go back to normal. It's clear enough, that's not what's going to happen.

She wants to say, _where have you been?_ but what comes out instead is, "What's _wrong?_ "

For a moment, all Megamind does is stare at her, big green eyes stutter-blinking against the rain coming hard and fast and turning his hoodie water-dark, his mouth a thin line over clenched teeth. Then he says, slowly, "Miss Ritchi. I…" He stops, struggling. "It's…"

She looks around. "Where's Minion? We figured he'd be with you."

Megamind lets out a sob. Just one and then he clenches his jaw shut, but it's enough to make Roxanne's heart skip a beat and then drop all the way to her shoes. _I should have known. Minion would never let him look like this_. "Is…is he going to be okay?"

Megamind bares his teeth, squeezes his eyes closed, and then, when it's already painfully clear that he's crying now and there's nothing he can do about it, he presses both hands to his eyes and curls back into a ball so she won't see his face.

Roxanne shrugs her purse onto the step, heedless of safety and wet weather, and doesn't even stop to think before crouching down to put her arms around him. _Wow,_ he's even thinner than she'd thought. "Megamind, oh lord. Megamind, hey. Hey. It's okay, you just…you just let it out, okay? Just…" Oh, great, now she's half-crying, too. Minionis the one who's hurt? This whole time, she'd only thought of Minion a few times, never seriously, because of course Minion is okay. He _has_ to be okay. He's _Minion_ , he's a rock, he's unbreakable.

But…yes, something happening to Minion is pretty much the only thing she can think of that could render Megamind this incoherent or push him this far into hiding. This…actually explains quite a bit. She swallows desperately against the stone in her throat. "Megamind, it's okay, I've got you."

He heaves in a ragged breath, lets it out in a muffled keening noise that he chokes off halfway through, gulping back, holding his breath—so he doesn't make noise, is the only reason she can think of; but that's even worse: not that he's like this, but the sense that he can't stand to be heard like this. Roxanne squeezes him. "No, it's okay, it's okay," she says, trying to keep her voice as even as possible as the alien in her arms starts to rock back and forth. "Breathe, it's okay, just breathe."

What happened? And when? Has he been alone this whole time? He would have started by trying to fix whatever it was—he would have run himself absolutely ragged, would have driven himself into the ground trying to fix it. How does grief go? Denial, anger, bargaining… Somehow, Roxanne is pretty sure Megamind hasn't made it too far, but it's been months.

Eventually, Megamind stops rocking, but that appears to be because he's hyperventilated himself all the way into unconsciousness. Which…hadn't exactly been what she'd meant when she'd told him to breathe. It's worrying, of course, but also helpful, because it gives Roxanne a chance to quickly try and process some things.

 _I've found Megamind. He seems unharmed, but upset. Something happened to Minion but I don't know what._

 _(is minion dead? minion can't be_ _dead._ _he can't be. do they have a mental thing? is that why megamind is so…_

 _wrecked?)_

One fact rises above the multitude of questions. She can think about the questions later, but for now… _I can't leave him out here like this_.

If she leaves to find help, she has no guarantee Megamind will still be here when she returns. Also, the rain hasn't let up yet. It's spring, so the nights are still cool in northern Michigan and God only knows what his immune system is like. No. If Roxanne wants to help him, then she needs to find a way to bring him home with her now.

She slings her purse over her shoulder and then bends, crouches low, and puts her other shoulder in Megamind's stomach. Then she wraps her arm up around his waist and holds his legs steady with her other hand. After that, it's just a matter of standing up. _It's a good thing his torso is so long and narrow_ , she thinks, _or this would be really difficult_. "Up we go," she mutters. "Ooof you weigh, like, a thousand pounds. Okay."

Home isn't far, now, and Roxanne grits her teeth and thinks wistfully of the big plush blanket thrown over the end of her bed. That's where she wants to be right now. Under that blanket. Not thinking about Minion being hurt or sick or dead, not thinking about Megamind thrown over her shoulder.

Tonight is a hide-from-the-world night. The rain seems all too happy to assist her, and it only takes a few seconds before Roxanne and Megamind are out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Another chapter! I own nothing but I love you guys!

Oh and the songs aren't perfect matches for the chapters or anything, they're just songs that I listened to while writing that seemed to fit the tone/themes a bit. :)

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 2**

 _ **Annabelle**_ **\- Dessa**

Walking with someone on your shoulders is harder work than it seems at first, and by the time Roxanne gets home, Megamind is shivering violently and Roxanne is staggering. She's going to feel this tomorrow, but stopping isn't an option. She has to go in the back way so nobody sees her, and then she has to walk up the stairs to the third floor, poking her head in at every landing, before she has an empty path to the elevator. Thank heaven, at least her own floor is clear when the elevator doors open. This really isn't something she wants to explain to her neighbors.

And he's her friend, but she'd also rather not deal with Metro Man right now. When Megamind wakes up—whenever that will be—the presence of his arch-nemesis might not be a good idea, and Roxanne isn't willing to risk it. Also, finders keepers. Roxanne doesn't want Metro Man insisting Megamind stay somewhere other than at the apartment; she'd much prefer to be able to keep an eye on him. Especially now that she has an inkling of what's going on.

She dumps Megamind unceremoniously onto her couch, then collapses into her armchair (an orange wingback she'd bought on sale from IKEA. It's as comfortable as it is ugly, and it is as ugly as sin itself. Sitting in it is bliss) and just. Breathes. Does _not_ hyperventilate. And tries to come up with some kind of mental list of everything she'll need to do once she's got her breath back.

She'll need to text Metro Man, at least. That's easy, she can do that now. She sends him, _Found Megamind. Seeing you probably not a good idea. Will keep you posted_.

Okay, that's one thing taken care of. What else?

Megamind will need dry clothes. That's fine, he can borrow one of her shirts and some pajama pants for now. Maybe tomorrow she'll hit Goodwill, or something.

He'll need food. What does he eat? If she remembers correctly, she's only seen him eat…mostly sugar. What about allergies? Will she be able to get him to eat at all? She decides not to focus on this problem for now; it can wait until he's awake.

He'll need somewhere to sleep. Now, that's something she can work with. She pushes herself back up to standing, stretches with a grimace, then heads to the walk-in closet she uses for storage.

Most overnight guests sleep on her sofa, but that tends not to be suitable for longer visits. It's not hard for Roxanne to throw together her usual 'long-term guest bedroom'—the old collapsible bed frame and rolled-up futon mattress she'd slept on in college are in the very back of the closet, along with a folding screen. The bed goes along the wall of windows by the deck with the curtains half-closed and the screen goes up next to the bed for privacy, and voila! Guest 'room.' She's tucking in the blankets and sheet when she hears a groan from the direction of the couch, and she pokes her head around the screen.

Megamind is sitting up, but he's slumped forward and is slowly massaging his temples with the tips of his fingers. "Headache?" Roxanne says, tentative. He nods. "All I've got is Motrin, can you take that?"

Another nod. After a moment, he holds up three fingers, then goes back to rubbing the sides of his head.

"Okay, hold on." She gets the Motrin, taps out three of the orange pills, and swings by the kitchenette to grab a glass of water, too. Then she heads back out, trying not to feel nervous. Why should she be nervous? It's only Megamind. Only the supervillain who's terrorized the city for the past several years. He's only sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest and his eyes squeezed shut, pressing the heels of both hands to either side of his head.

"Hey," Roxanne says. "I'm okay with feet on the couch, but maybe take off your shoes first."

He blinks up at her, then stirs and moves a hand to pick at the laces, which are horribly knotted. Roxanne stands with the pills and water, feeling awkward, but Megamind doesn't seem to notice that she's waiting. He gets his shoes off, then looks around for the painkillers. One thing at a time.

(Since when does he do one thing at a time?)

Roxanne gives him the Motrin and then retreats to the safety of her chair. Megamind isn't wearing any socks, and the skin on his toes looks white and very cold; who knows how long he's been wearing those wet shoes. _Not my business to worry_ , Roxanne thinks, but it doesn't change the facts. "Do you…do you want me to call someone?" she asks. Megamind shakes his head. Presses his lips together. "Is Minion sick? Can you tell me where he is so I can bring him here?"

Megamind's whole face scrunches up before he manages to pull it flat again, but his eyes are too wide, his mouth too thin, and some part of Roxanne had already known the answer anyway. "Minion's dead, isn't he?" she asks, and Megamind nods jerkily.

Then he swallows hard. "I can't," he rasps, "I can't go back. It's too…I can't sleep there."

If he's talking, Roxanne is loath to make him stop, but that's where he breaks off. His thin chest billows once, twice, his eyes dart everywhere. He's blinking like crazy. "If. I could have a moment," he manages. "Please."

It takes her a second to figure out that he wants her to leave him alone, but she supposes it makes sense. Megamind is secretive and he's always been proud in spite of the way he usually clowns around. He's probably kicking himself for letting her see him cry earlier, and since Roxanne doesn't want to intrude on him again…

"I'll go get you some dry clothes," she says, but she sets a box of Kleenex by his knee before she goes into the bedroom, hoping he'll take it as a signal that she's not going to judge if there are tears.

She takes her time looking for things that will fit him. She pulls out a thick pair of wool socks, first thing, because they're easy and he obviously needs socks, and then she turns her attention to the rest of the problem. The zipper on his hoodie hadn't escaped her notice; any pullover shirt she gives him will need a wide neck, so she opts for a stretchy navy-blue sweater with a vee neck. It's very long, intended to be worn with leggings, but she'd had a particular pair of drawstring lounge pants in mind for him. She'd outgrown them years ago but she's been optimistically holding onto them anyway.

She hesitates. Would leggings be more comfortable for him? He wears an awful lot of spandex, and the jeans he has on look awfully snug…she grabs a pair of compression pants from her drawer; it's worth a shot, and it's not like she'll need them for running now that it's summer.

He's on his own as far as underwear is concerned; Roxanne's not touching that little issue right now. She gets some towels out of her linen cupboard, puts them next to hers on the rack. Pulls a spare toothbrush out from under her bathroom sink and wiggles it out of its little cardboard box, sets it in the stand next to hers. There. That's the best she can do.

Anything else?

She pauses, turning to gaze contemplatively at her shower. After a long moment of hesitation, she takes her razor and moves it to her bedroom, hiding it in the drawer of her nightstand. Megamind's beard is an absolute mess but Roxanne has no idea what kind of mental state he might be in. Better safe than sorry. He can trim it with scissors if he needs to; his face is stubble-free except for that odd little stripe on his chin.

That done, she gathers up the clothes, squares her shoulders, takes a deep breath, and heads back out to the living room. She's not really expecting Megamind to have composed himself after saying something like _Minion is gone_ , so she's not surprised to see him sit up quickly when he hears the door open, his shoulders hitching.

 _Oh, screw this_. Roxanne bites her lip and walks over to the couch, puts the folded clothing in a heap on the coffee table, and sits down next to the shuddering alien. "Megamind. If you need to cry, do it. You'll give yourself a hernia, keeping it bottled up like that."

"Ih-it's been muh- _months_ ," he chokes out, squeezing his hands into helpless fists. "I'm tuh- _tired_ of crying. I just want it to st-stop hurting."

Roxanne grabs a fist and peels his fingers open so she can net them with hers and squeeze. She's not sure what else to do. "Can you tell me what happened?"

" _No!_ That's the w-worst _part!_ " Megamind exclaims, pulling away and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Roxanne reaches around him to get the tissues, wordlessly hands him a Kleenex. He blinks at it, looking momentarily confused, then blows his nose in it. Roxanne scoots her little trash can over to him. "I don't _know_ what huh-happened. If I knew, I could _do_ something about it."

Slowly, painfully, the story unfolds. Megamind had been working on a gun, no surprises there. Something about disrupting objects in three-dimensional space, scattering them or something. Minion had come into the room and startled Megamind, whose shout had, in turn, startled Minion—they both jumped a little—and the gun went off, hitting the upper half of Minion's gorilla suit with a blast from an unfinished matter-disruptor.

"And he was _gone_ ," Megamind finishes, "he was…he was just _gone_ , just like that. From the knees up. I tried everything to get him back. At first I th-thought maybe it sent him somewhere, but when I shot a target with it, the target exploded. I don't know what _happened_. I tried _everything_."

Roxanne is staring at him, wide-eyed. It looks like Megamind does make mistakes, then, sometimes. "Did you take the gun apart?" she asks. "Maybe some wires got crossed, or…"

But he's already shaking his head. "No. _No_. I couldn't. If I changed the calibration, there would be n-no way." Roxanne figures she'll go with his word on that one. Megamind slumps again, forehead in his hands, tears dripping from open eyes onto his knees. "I don't know what happened, I don't know what to do," he whispers. "I can't go home. I can't go to the prison. I've been staying underground, but I'm…I'm so _tired_ , I just want to sleep."

"No, of…of course you can't go back underground," Roxanne stammers, still trying to wrap her head around all this. "No, I already set up your bed, you can stay here." At that, Megamind sits up a little and looks at her for what's really the first time all night, but Roxanne doesn't give him any time to slip back into his grief. "Here are some clothes—they should fit, I couldn't find any zipper shirts, but I think you'll be able to get that on. And, and I wasn't really sure what kind of pants you would…anyway, you know where the bathroom is, I'm going to heat up some soup for dinner. Are you allergic to anything?" He just blinks at her and doesn't reply. She'll take that as a 'no.' "If," she says, backing away slowly, "if you want to take a shower, I put some towels on the rack for you, they're purple. Sorry. A-and your toothbrush is the red one."

Stunned, Megamind picks up the clothes and stares at Roxanne's retreating back. Stay? He can stay? Here?

It's not in his nature to reach out. Reaching out ends in being slapped away. But now, things are being given to him—a dry place to sleep, food, clothing, something that might even resemble sympathy—and he doesn't know what to do about that.

After a long minute, he stands up and goes into the bathroom, where he strips off his wet clothes in a sort of daze. It doesn't matter where he is now, or what he has. Minion is gone. The only fixed point in Megamind's messed-up world is gone and he's lost at sea.

A glance in the mirror shows him the grubby mess of beard tangling down from its stripe on his chin—the only place it's ever grown—shows him smudges of dirt on his face and neck and arms—shows hollows under his collar- and cheekbones, shadows under the line of his jaw and his mussed-up eyebrows. For a moment, he tries vaguely to care about his appearance, but that doesn't really work so he switches to trying to care about muddying the clothes Roxanne lent him, instead. That's a little easier, so he forces himself to turn on the shower and step in without thinking too hard about it. He does most things without thinking, now; it hurts less.

He leaves the water as hot as he can stand and rubs soap over his skin on autopilot, combs his fingers through his beard until he can't find any more tangles, then settles to the floor of the shower and loses himself for a while in the curling steam.

Roxanne's water heater is bigger than he's used to, so it takes pruny hands and his skin blotching purple from the heat to tell him it's time to get out of the shower. When he eventually does turn the water off and climb out of the tub, he claims the lavender towels Roxanne had said he should use, dries off, and hangs them back up the way he'd found them. Then he turns his fractured attention to the clothes she'd given him.

There are white stars on the sweater. He stares at these for an interminable amount of time, thinking about nothing in particular, before he remembers that he's supposed to be getting dressed.

The material isn't stretchy enough to get it over his head without breaking the elastic, so he pulls it up over his narrow waist and wiggles into it that way, instead. He opts for the leggings first in a half-hearted try for familiarity, but without much luck; Roxanne's hips are far too wide for them to fit him. The drawstring trousers, on the other hand, are loose, but they stay up.

When did Roxanne find out that he liked fluffy socks?

It doesn't matter. He can't summon the energy to figure out how to remove the wispy disaster on his chin, but he's clean and he has dry clothes and a place to sleep. He suspects Roxanne may be messing with him, but at this point, Megamind is simply too burned-out to care. He's been kicked when he was down before; that's nothing new. The trick to not being disappointed is not to hope for much.

It seems Roxanne's apartment has the washer and dryer in the bathroom. Megamind piles his wet clothes in the dryer so they won't be on the floor, but he doesn't turn the machine on. He just looks at the useless leggings for a while, then leaves them in a heap on the back of the toilet. It seems like a clean enough surface.

Once he's done everything he can to delay leaving the bathroom, he turns and studies the door.

Minion would know where to go from here. Minion always knew where to go from here. It's hard for Megamind to start things without Minion ticking gently away in the back of his mind, hard for him to remember to keep doing things, hard for him to even see _where_ to begin, let alone _how_. If Minion were here, Megamind's hands would know their work, but as it is…

What is he supposed to do now?

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roxanne turns when she hears her bedroom door squeak open. Her clothes are terribly baggy on Megamind and the collar of his sweater keeps slipping to the side and down, showing too-sharp collarbones and the lines of Megamind's sternum under his skin.

"Hey," Roxanne says. "Here, come eat." She's only just sat down, herself; she goes back to the stove and pours some chicken soup into a second bowl. She'd figured chicken would be innocuous enough. "You have any allergies? You didn't really tell me earlier."

Megamind shakes his head as he approaches, stops when he gets to the hard floor of the kitchen. "Where…?"

"Just at the island, pick a chair," Roxanne tells him, pulling a spoon out of a drawer. "Here."

He balks. Just pick one? There are four. Roxanne's chair is one in from the end. Is he supposed to sit directly next to her? On which side? Should he leave an empty chair between them? Minion would know.

Roxanne turns, holding a bowl, and sees him still locked at the edge of the carpeting, green eyes flicking between the three available seats like he doesn't know what to do with himself. "Which hand do you eat with?" she asks.

He jumps and looks at her. "Uh—m-my left."

"Okay," Roxanne says slowly. "That rules out the chair to my immediate right, or we'll be bumping elbows all night. I'm gonna go ahead and guess you probably do better with some space, anyway, so it looks like you're on the end." She sets his bowl down, grabs him a spoon, then realizes he still hasn't moved. "What is it?"

He glances at the floor. "Shoes. I…hard floors…my lab space…"

 _Oh, he is really out of it. He won't walk on hard floors without shoes?_ Then what he'd said about lab space sinks in and she realizes it's probably to do with his particular line of work. "You aren't in your lab," she reminds him. "You're in my kitchen. Lab safety rules don't apply here."

Megamind nods and walks carefully to his chair, clenching and unclenching his hands as he moves.

 _Wow_. Roxanne returns to her own seat and does her best to act normal, but there's nothing normal about having dinner with the shadowy husk of the guy who used to be one of the biggest spitfires you knew. And, okay, she can sort of understand his issues with shoes, but what's with him not being able to just pick a damn chair?

Roxanne eats for a minute, then pauses and looks over at him. He's just sitting there, staring at his bowl. "It's gonna get cold," she says quietly.

Megamind nods again and picks up his spoon, slowly eats two bites. That's encouraging, but his second swallow is more of a stuttered gulp, and Roxanne looks over again just in time to see his face pinch before he turns away. He sets his spoon down.

She'd been wondering if that would happen. Eating is the last thing she ever wants to do when she's upset; it's too grounding. When everything feels like the world is coming down around your ears, the last thing you want is to be reminded that life goes on regardless. Grief, in particular, is difficult to chew through. Grief flavors everything like ash.

Lord knows if that's Megamind's headspace, but it doesn't seem like much of a stretch. Roxanne reaches out and leans over to put her hand on his back, but Megamind jumps and shivers away, twisting to stare at her, momentarily startled out of his funk. Roxanne hesitates, then carefully touches his arm instead, cautiously rubs up and down a couple times before returning to her own space.

"You gotta eat," she tells him, and he blinks his shocked-green stare back down at his soup. Then he wilts a little.

"Not hungry," he murmurs.

"Okay, well, you look like you're about to blow away." Roxanne knocks a gentle fist against his shoulder and returns to her own dinner. " _Eat_."

Megamind sits still for another few seconds, then huffs a quiet sigh and picks his spoon up again. He only finishes a little more than half the bowl before he goes back to the couch and curls up into a ball in the far corner, but he _does_ eat, and Roxanne rolls her eyes at the ceiling and sends up a little thanks to who or whatever might be listening. God willing, Megamind will not starve to death on her watch.

Minion. This changes everything. Roxanne's world has just shifted several degrees.

She finishes eating and rinses her dishes, covers Megamind's uneaten portion with saran wrap and puts it in the fridge in case he wants it later, then goes to her living area. She bites her lip and looks at Megamind, whose face is hidden in the curve of the leg that's tucked under him. His other foot is braced on the cushion so his sharp knee shields his side, and his hands are netted over the back of his neck again.

Roxanne doesn't touch him; he looks like he'll pull something if he's in that position and he jumps like he did the last couple times. Instead, she sits down on the opposite end of the couch and turns on the television, flicking through channels until she finds a movie. It's an older western flick, Clint Eastwood doing his squinty, stoic thing. Fun with cowboys, guns, and not too much dialogue. Yeah.

She knows Megamind is grieving. She also knows that whatever happened, happened almost a year ago. So—she'll support him where she can, give him a safe place to sleep, give him some company. Feed him. Do what she can.

But she'll mourn Minion in her own way, in her own time. She's got her life to live, and maybe if she lives her life, Megamind will live it with her and get back on his feet that way.

She might not be doing this much if she'd found him last fall, but Metro Man had been deeply worried after the first big snow this past winter. More worried than she ever would have thought he'd be, honestly; but then he'd started telling her things about Megamind he'd never told anyone else.

"Roxie, trust me, if he wanted to kill me, I'd be dead," he'd said. "But I think it's more like…we're kinda like business partners, you know? I'm the hero, he's the villain. It works. He knows I'm not gonna try and take him out permanently, and I know he's not gonna let anybody else start pushing our city around…it works. With him gone, I'm pulling double shifts trying to keep other villains from moving in. And that's not the half of it…"

Roxanne had listen with narrowed eyes.

When multiple disasters hit the city at the same time—not an unusual occurrence in a metropolitan area as large as Metro—and Metro Man couldn't cover all of them, Megamind would send flights of brainbots in stealth mode to the locations Metro Man couldn't make it to. And the decrease in crime over the past decade or so hasn't been entirely Metro Man's doing; a lot of it was Megamind working to keep the balance. Including tips to the media on local scandals and business dealings. And more than half of the Scott family's annual "anonymous" donation to the city's public-school system has come from Megamind for at least the last five years, and possibly even before that. More than half.

"This is why we gotta find him, Roxie," Metro Man had said. "I can't do this job alone. Not well, anyway."

"Wait, back up the truck," Roxanne replied, waving her hands. "You're saying he even knows you're really Wayne Scott."

"Oh, he's probably known that since we were kids," Metro Man scoffed. "But he only approached me about using my family's name to hide his contributions about…oh, four, five years ago?"

"And he uses this information to help the _schools?_ " She'd had a tough time wrapping her head around that one.

Metro Man shrugged. "He's a genius. Not surprising he'd value education." He'd sighed, shaken his head. "Roxie, what I'm saying is, he's a major force for good in this city."

"I thought you always said he's an evil little maniac."

"Yeah, and I've got enough respect for his reputation not to ruin it for him. You've never noticed? Really?"

She had. She'd never wanted to admit it, for fear of sounding absolutely off her rocker, but…

He's never threatened her, not really, not once. And the way he's acted with the brainbots, and with Minion, and when he's not thinking, with her…

Mind the size of a planet, and he always seemed to genuinely enjoy verbally sparring with her. She didn't have to hide a thing from him, when she was in his chair; he'd look at her just the same, with stars in his eyes and a grin on his lips.

Now she glances sideways at the aforementioned evil little maniac, who's currently in a sad little ball on her sofa, and sighs. Well, if he's going to be living with her…

"Okay, house rules," she says. "No drugs, no stealing, and if you make a mess, you clean it up. Oh, and no hanging out on top of the fridge in the middle of the night. Other than that…estás en tu casa. Help yourself to food and whatever else."

After a second, Megamind slowly raises his head, looking baffled. "What…the fridge…?"

"Hey, it happens once, you learn to be careful," Roxanne says flatly, hoping he'll smile. "I guess it's not a major thing, but one of my former roommates liked to climb on top of the refrigerator at night and just…perch there. It was deeply creepy." She grins at him. "I don't want to come out to get a midnight snack and find you up on top of the fridge like some weird bird in the middle of the night."

He stares at her for another long moment, then puts his head back down again.

"And this other guy," Roxanne continues, because it's a commercial and that seemed to get Megamind's attention even if it didn't get a smile, "stayed with me for a while because he was my roommate's brother but she was out of town and…anyway, he took pictures of my feet." She pauses, but doesn't get a response from Megamind. " _Lots_ of pictures, without my knowledge."

Megamind uncurls a little.

"Yep," she continues, "I only found out because he accidentally texted one to a mutual friend who let me know. Turns out this guy had fifty or so pictures of just my feet and my lower legs. I had no idea he was even taking them—you know how people stand when they're texting, right? Head down, phone camera pointed at the floor?" She laughs a little. "That was still less weird than Fridge Roomie."

There's a pause, and then Megamind mumbles, "I won't. Do that. Take pictures of you."

Roxanne laughs again, but it comes out forced. "Thanks," she says. "I appreciate that. I mean, I'd have been fine if he'd just asked first, but…"

Another pause. Then she says, "We worried you wouldn't survive the winter. Metro Man assumed you'd gone someplace warm, but you didn't, did you? You stayed here in Metro City."

Silence. Then he says, "It's my home."

"We would've known if you'd visited any of the shelters," Roxanne says, gently prompting. "Or gone back to the jail."

"Storm drains," Megamind says into the couch. "It's…warm enough underground. I found a place. Higher than the rest. Dry. I could sleep there."

"Warm enough," she repeats, amazed. She remembers reading somewhere that caves stay the same temperature all year, but a drain is hardly a cave. "Warm enough to keep from freezing to death, maybe, but…"

Megamind shifts, almost shrugs. "I'm alive."

"I guess," Roxanne says, after a pause. He doesn't _look_ terribly alive; he looks like he's starving to death. Gaunt, tired. "Where did you get food?" she asks, but it seems Megamind's brief talkative spell has dried up; he doesn't answer.

"Never mind," she says, feeling abruptly bad for questioning him when he's so clearly out of it. Answers can wait; they aren't important, anyway. "That's okay, you don't have to talk if you don't want to."

She watches TV for a while, scrolling idly through Facebook on her phone at the same time. She doesn't know half the people she's friends with; she gets new friend requests every day and she tends to accept all of them just so she doesn't have to think about it. Every now and then some stranger will share something newsworthy to her timeline, so it has its upsides.

Megamind doesn't speak again, or move, but eventually Roxanne has to nudge him. "You should brush your teeth." He twists out of his pretzel and looks at her, blankly puzzled. "I'm going to bed, soon," she says, "and the ignoramus who designed this apartment decided to put the only bathroom inside the bedroom." It works well enough when she's alone, but it does make having overnight guests somewhat difficult.

Megamind gets to his feet like an ironing board unfolding, then walks away without a word and without stretching. A second later, Roxanne hears the bathroom door click shut. At least the bathroom is immediately inside her bedroom, so guests don't have to go too far into her room to use it. You'd think her apartment would have a more thoughtful layout, with what she pays for the place. Oh, well.

This is much earlier than she normally turns in, but interacting with Megamind feels awkward and strange in a way she isn't sure she can deal with, right now. She can't just sit here and pretend like he isn't in some kind of shock, but she also doesn't dare reach out the way she wishes she could. For one thing, he keeps flinching every time she touches him, but mostly…

Well, it's _Megamind_. They just don't have that kind of relationship.

Yes, he'd let her out of a kidnapping one time for a family emergency. He'd even driven her to the hospital. And yes, there was the time he'd come to kidnap her and found her sick with the flu, and he'd apologized and left—and two hours later, Minion showed up with a container of soup and a carton of orange juice. And it's been years since he'd kidnapped her in the middle of anything _truly_ pressing; Roxanne suspects he keeps an eye on her schedule, though she isn't sure why. And what about the time her grandmother passed away, and Megamind sent a sympathy card? She's inclined to think that was probably Minion's idea, but the signature was genuine.

But Megamind being as courteous as possible during his kidnappings doesn't change the fact that they _are kidnappings_. She knows he doesn't mean her any harm, and that's what counts, but they haven't had the chance to really build any kind of extra-curricular rapport.

And yes, Roxanne has never felt truly threatened, but she's always had to wonder. Like the times when Megamind would lean in close, baring his teeth in a wild smile that reached all the way to his eyes. Or when he cackled with laughter as he skipped and danced around bursts of laser-fire from Metro Man's eyes, showing no regard whatsoever for his personal well-being. That wasn't an act; Minion's face always gave it away whenever Megamind had a close call, so—Megamind was a villain and there was real danger there, whether he intended harm or not.

And now he's brushing his teeth in Roxanne's bathroom, and she's sitting out here hoping he'll be okay. What the hell.

"I've lost my mind," she mutters.

When Megamind comes back out, blinking owlishly at her, she stands. "Your bed's over there, behind the screen," she tells him. "I'll…figure something out about other clothes for you tomorrow."

For a moment, he looks like he's about to say something, but then he swallows whatever words were on his tongue and just nods, instead. And disappears behind the screen.

"God, give me strength," Roxanne whispers, and goes to brush her own teeth and get ready for bed.

She doesn't think to check her phone until she's already lying down. There are four new texts from Metro Man:

 _Thank god. He okay?_

 _Hellooooo?_

 _Ground control to major tom helloooo is he okay_

 _Should I come over?_

She smiles in spite of herself and responds, _Sorry, got caught up. Don't come over, he's asleep and I'm going to bed. He seems_

—She pauses, wanting to type "depressed," but she's not sure yet if that's accurate.

 _He seems pretty shaken up_. That's correct, she knows. _Minion's dead_.

She sends the text and puts her phone on the nightstand to charge, then rolls onto her back with a sigh. She's fully intending to go to sleep, but she winds up staring at the ceiling for a long time.

 _Is_ that what depression looks like? It's been a long time since any of her immediate friends were grappling with it, but she's sure she'd never seen them go blank like that. They'd never lost track of their words. The way Megamind is acting…it looks like depression, but it also looks like some of his pain might be physical; he keeps clutching the back of his neck just under the curve of his skull, he keeps his eyes closed.

What would depression even look like in Megamind? He's an alien, after all, and his brain is vastly different from her own, as well as different from the only other alien Roxanne is friendly with. Could this be something else—just grief, maybe? It's been a long time since the accident, but…his distress while he'd been telling her what had happened…that would point more to grief than depression, wouldn't it?

And should she keep worrying about how small he is? He's always been thin and right now he's skinnier than usual, but she's not sure at what point Megamind will qualify as "dangerously underweight" versus just "visibly malnourished."

He passed out earlier, so something must be deeply wrong. She has to wonder, again, if Minion and Megamind had had some kind of mental link going on. She'd never noticed them doing anything that looked like telepathy, but they'd always operated as a perfect team in spite of Megamind's constant complaining; is it possible that their cohesiveness was the result of more than just years of practice? That would definitely complicate things, grieving-process-wise. Possibly physically as well, but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing she can just ask about.

To be fair, if Megamind winds up staying for a while, she'll probably find out eventually, either way. She groans and rolls over, closes her eyes, and wills herself to sleep, but it's a long time coming.


	3. Chapter 3

I know it's late, I'm sorry! But the lateness comes with a funny story… I literally _fell asleep while writing_ my little note to you guys last night. I can't make this shit up. My little author's note ended with, "S oanywya i't s not like Megamind ca read her thgoughtsm it's more of a brai ns whare tahna anything elseoooooooooooooooooooooooooo" and the "oooo" went on for the rest of the page and a little bit more, where I guess my hand slipped off the keyboard? I don't know. The weirdest part is that it was only a little bit before midnight or so and I usually don't have any problems staying up that late!

Anyway, when I "woke up" a few minutes later I was still too asleep to actually fix my note and post the chapter, so…it's late and I'm sorry.

Here's the chapter! I'm trying something new, it's called "not writing every single little thing." xD So there's a lot of time passing and I'm just…kind of writing little scenes as they go along, so the scene changes may seem a little disjointed. Frankly I just don't have the time to dedicate a ton of time to exploring as much as I'd like to with this fic, so maybe someday I'll revisit this and flesh it out a bit? Eh.

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 3**

 **Nemo – Nightwish**

Roxanne leaves for work before Megamind is out of bed. She glances in at him before she leaves just to make sure he's still there but she doesn't wake him up; one thing he'd mentioned twice last night was sleeping, where he could and couldn't sleep. She figures if he can sleep at all in her apartment, she should let him get on with it. He probably needs it.

But she isn't sure if she's going to come home from work that evening and find that Megamind's gone missing again. He doesn't seem like the sort of person to stay in one place too long if he's uncertain about his surroundings, and he'd certainly seemed unsure of himself last night. But he doesn't have anywhere else to go, that's for sure, and Roxanne is really hoping he'll be there in the evening.

She runs a quick errand on her way home, just in case. It turns out not to be fruitless, because Megamind is sitting on the sofa, expressionless, his hands still, when Roxanne walks in. "Hey," Roxanne exclaims. "You're still here!"

He flushes at that and stands up, and she sees he's wearing his ratty clothes again. His shoes are tied.

She could let him go, could let him walk right out the door and out of her life, and everything would go back to normal and Megamind probably wouldn't even be offended about it. Now's the chance for Roxanne to keep her quiet home life. He's a wanted criminal and they likely don't have a thing in common. He's not her responsibility.

 _I don't see why_ _that_ _matters_. She tosses him the pack of underwear she'd picked up for him on her way home on the off chance that he'd still be there and asks, "What do you want for dinner?"

Megamind catches the underwear on reflex and blinks at her until he apparently remembers that he's supposed to respond. "Um. I'll. Have whatever you're having," he mumbles, and sits back down. He doesn't say much else for the rest of the night, but he hasn't left on Wednesday morning, and Roxanne figures that's the end of that.

Over the next few days, she starts to see small signs of what might be improvement. At first, Megamind mostly sits on her couch and stares into space, apparently lost in thought. But sometimes when she gets home from work, she finds things different from how she left them. The dishes are done, her laundry has been folded. Badly, but it's folded. Neither of those things strike her as particularly odd; she often leaves herself a short list of chores to take care of in the evening so she won't have to bother figuring out what to do, and 'dishes' and 'fold laundry' are both pretty standard items on the list.

But then her bedroom door stops squeaking, and the next day the drippy kitchen sink stops dripping. The soap scum in her shower disappears. The microwave oven is clean. Megamind is definitely finding things to do while Roxanne is out for the day, but the really incredible thing is that he seems to have an uncanny knack for finding things that Roxanne herself has thought about but hasn't had the time to focus on. Either they aren't part of her usual checklist or they're things she's not sure how to do, like the sink and the persistent whine in her freezer that Megamind somehow manages to fix after only a few days.

He just looks uncomfortably blank when she thanks him, so she eventually stops mentioning it, but she still tries to catch his eye when she notices something. She could get used to this.

But after about a week of being surprised at whatever small adjustments Megamind found, she comes home to a dark apartment. Megamind is nowhere to be seen—not in his bed or under it, not in Roxanne's room, not in the bathroom. Feeling silly, she even checks some of the kitchen cupboards and glances behind the television set in the corner, wondering if he's the sort to hide somewhere small when he's feeling particularly off. He's not there, either, but she does find one of her throw pillows behind the television, and the space is almost suspiciously free of dust.

She's sitting in her chair, holding the throw pillow and wondering for the millionth time why the heck she's even worrying, when her front doorknob rattles. She looks up, startled, and then there's a flurry of frantic knocks and she leaps for the door, slides back the three deadbolts and the chain (locks never seemed to bother him before, so what's his problem now?) and wrenches the door open. Megamind all but dives into her apartment, a stained duffel bag slung across his back.

"Where were you?" Roxanne asks, too relieved to bother thinking about hiding it. "I thought you disappeared again!"

Megamind turns and blinks at her, then shrugs his duffel a little. "My clothes," he says, then looks uncertain. "I can…still stay? Here?"

She gapes at him for a moment, then lets out a quiet sigh and rubs a hand down her neck. "Yes," she says, making a conscious effort to calm down. "Yes, you can stay, just don't scare me like that." She's expecting him to just nod and retreat to the sofa or behind his screen, but he actually takes a step forward.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't think…"

She waves at him, suddenly tired. "No, it's okay, you don't have to tell me where you're going. I'm not your mom. Just…"

"I went missing before." He stands like a stone, watching her. "You were worried."

"Yeah," Roxanne admits, "I was."

His great head tips to one side. "Why?" he asks, but all she can tell him is, "I don't know." Oddly enough, he seems satisfied with this answer.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

They start to build a rapport different from the one they used to have. Roxanne starts it by chatting absently to her silent roommate about work: news stories and office drama—who got the promotion and who's out for revenge and who got fired. She tells him about Hal, who still seems a little odd but mostly harmless. She talks to him about food while she cooks the same basic meals she always has (but more of them now, enough for two).

Food, at least, is easy to talk about. Roxanne tells him about what metals are good for cooking, why silver should be washed separately from stainless steel, why olive oil is good for sautéing but peanut oil is good for frying and coconut oil is good for everything if you don't mind your food tasting vaguely nutty. Tells him what her father taught her about how if the smells go together, the ingredients probably do, too. Tells him how to do vegetables in the oven with olive oil. Tells him again and again that he needs to eat.

She shows him the steps and, slowly, he begins to respond. He sticks with "whatever you're having" as his response to the dinner question, but he watches everything Roxanne does and he seems to be listening. He starts asking questions. He stirs the frying onions and peppers when Roxanne has to step away.

He stops leaving an empty chair between them when they sit down to eat.

He sits on the sofa and pays attention to the movies she watches, which is fun until the movie is District 9, which Megamind seems interested in for about five minutes. Then he works out the theme and inhales sharply, stands, and goes into the bathroom. A moment later, Roxanne hears the shower kick on.

Megamind doesn't come back for at least half an hour, by which point Roxanne has also figured out the direction the movie is going and has turned on America's Next Top Model instead, since Megamind occasionally seems to be interested in the clothes. "I'm so sorry," she says as soon as he pokes his head around her bedroom door. "I've never seen it before, I only heard it had aliens in it."

"'S okay," he says, sliding back onto the couch. A minute later, he's muttering about shoes and patterns, so Roxanne decides he's not too traumatized. Good.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Metro Man texts her at work. _How is he?_

 _Not great_ , Roxanne sends back. _I'm trying to get him out of his shell_.

 _Yikes_ , Metro Man replies after a few minutes of nothing. _Good luck_.

"Oh, _you're_ a big help," Roxanne mutters, and goes back to her job.

To be fair, she's not particularly forthcoming on the Megamind front, either. She calls Wayne every now and again to fill him in, but she never talks long and she rarely elaborates more than she has to. Talking about Megamind's emotional state with his arch-rival makes her uncomfortable, though probably not half as uncomfortable as Megamind would be if he knew.

To her surprise, though, Wayne seems more or less okay with the arrangement. He doesn't protest Megamind staying at the apartment and he doesn't insist that the villain move to the Manor. He sounds startled when Roxanne tells him Megamind will be staying with her for the foreseeable future, but he doesn't sound opposed, and that's the most important thing. Mostly he just seems glad to know the smaller alien is as on top of things as he can be and doesn't protest the lack of updates.

He doesn't say much when Roxanne tells him exactly what happened to Minion, but he sounds pensive and excuses himself from their phone conversation quickly after that. Roxanne's not sure what that means. _Probably nothing_ , she decides, returning to her work.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Megamind doesn't know how to make popcorn, a fact Roxanne privately thinks is hilarious. "It's easy," she says, glancing over her shoulder at him before returning her attention to the microwave. "You just wait until there's about two seconds between each pop, then take it out."

Megamind, who is standing with his hands on his elbows several feet behind her, doesn't say anything. He's not good at "about" or "roughly." He would wait until there were exactly two seconds between pops even though he already knows there will never be exactly two seconds. He knows because Minion has told him this same thing several times, and he's tried, and it doesn't work.

Roxanne pulls the microwave door open when the average time between popping noises is 2.09 seconds. Megamind presses his lips together.

"See? Most of it's popped, and none of it's burned," Roxanne says, leaning back as she tugs the bag open and lets the steam escape. "Pass the salt."

But now Megamind steps forward, pulls open the fridge with one hand and a cupboard with the other, takes out butter and a small glass bowl in almost the same movement. He puts the bowl on the counter and pulls out the knife drawer in the same motion.

Roxanne blinks at him, smiling curiously. After so much stillness, popcorn is what gets him to move? "What are you…"

"Wait," he says. He cuts off a chunk of butter and puts it in the bowl, dumps a bunch of salt in on top of the butter, puts it in the microwave.

Megamind can't make popcorn. He can, however, make extra butter.

Roxanne puts the hot bag gingerly down on the counter, then leans against the closed fridge to watch. Megamind glances over at her, then down at the popcorn bag, then goes back to staring at the microwave.

Something flashes near his chest, and Roxanne realizes he's absently twirling the knife he'd cut the butter with between the bare fingers of his left hand. She opens her mouth to warn him to be careful, then realizes how silly that would sound—he's a supervillain, or he was; he knows what he's doing.

He opens the microwave with several seconds left on the timer. This, he can do, because he can see when the butter needs to be taken out. No counting involved. He takes out the little bowl and swirls it a little to make sure the salt is fully dissolved, then tilts the popcorn bag up and jiggles it a bit while drizzling the butter in. That should keep the distribution even enough, but he still pinches the bag closed and gives it a few vigorous shakes anyway just to be sure.

When he turns, Roxanne is holding out a wooden bowl and grinning at him. "So," she says, "I make the popcorn, you make the butter, huh?" She takes a couple still-hot pieces as Megamind upends the bag into the bowl and crunches thoughtfully, then raises her eyebrows. "'S good," she exclaims. "Not too salty. It's always too salty when I mix the butter and salt in the same bowl."

He doesn't really smile, but his eyes crinkle at the corners. "See," he says, "I'm not _totally_ hopeless."

She laughs. "I see! All right, c'mon. Back to pod racers and bad animation?"

"Star Wars," he agrees. "Yes."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She comes home a few nights after that and he's gone again, but this time there's a note in the bowl by the door where she leaves her keys. _Getting food_ , it says. _Back soon_. Roxanne leaves the door unlocked this time, even though she goes to bed before Megamind comes in, and in the morning when she peeks in the fridge it has all kinds of meats and vegetables and juices. Her cupboards have been restocked with cans and packets of instant soups.

That wasn't necessary, but…it's a nice gesture, she supposes. It seems the villain is willing to earn his keep, and it means he's getting out and about, so it can't be all bad. Still, she can't help but wonder where he'd gone.

She thanks him for the groceries when she gets home in the evening, and he nods. But all he says is, "We needed food."

Which, while accurate, isn't much of a conversation starter. Oh well. At least he's starting to talk. And there was a _we_ in there.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sometimes she's not sure if any of this is helping. Megamind doesn't cry again, not that she sees. She doesn't know if that's good or not. But he stays, and that's something.

He's also not awful from a roommate standpoint, which is something else. He doesn't behave like an interloper and he doesn't just live his life separately from her but in the same space; he listens to her talk about her day. He listens to her talk about food. He cleans up after himself and hangs up his towel and he never forgets to put the cap back on the toothpaste.

It's _weird_. And it's…sort of nice. But otherwise, it seems like he's locked in his head half the time, content to just share his existence with her, not really doing anything of his own or expressing any preferences. Roxanne doesn't stop asking what he'd like to do that particular evening, but all she ever gets is a shrug.

And she wishes it wasn't because Minion is dead. She honestly can't think of another reason why he'd wind up living with her, but any other reason has got to be better than that one.

It's been nearly a year since the accident with Minion. Grief takes its own sweet time, Roxanne knows that well enough, but…it's different when you're watching it wreak its silent havoc on someone else instead of dealing with the storm yourself. Still, it hasn't been long since Megamind's had a safe place to sleep and spend his days. Roxanne suspects he's been in a holding pattern, so maybe he couldn't move forward—not move on, but at least forward—until now.

For her part, she resolves to just keep living her life. Hopefully, Megamind will eventually be able to find his own cut strings and pick them back up again.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She comes home late and scowling halfway through the third week and hurls her keys into their usual bowl, then looks up to see Megamind eyeing her warily from the middle of the room. It's more alert than he's looked in a while. And, to her intense surprise, he clears his throat and asks, "Rough day?"

She scoffs. "Ugh. You have no idea. So, my boss, right?"

"Carl."

"Yeah, Carl. So, Carl gets this great idea today to tell me that the Faber interview is _tomorrow morning_ instead of next Friday like I thought."

Megamind frowns. "Isn't that the…"

"Federal tax fraud case, yeah, so guess what Idid from five-thirty—when I was getting ready to go _home—_ until _nine?_ "

Megamind's lips twitch. "You read tax law," he guesses.

Roxanne flops backwards onto the couch and kicks off her heels. "Yeah. I read tax law. And way too many sections of actual tax code, too. Don't you want to know why?"

He tilts his head at her.

"Because it was five-thirty and summertime and all the accountants I know were already home for the evening, so I couldn't ask them for ideas. This stuff isn't exactly rocket science, so I need to come up with enough bullshit to generate twenty minutes of sound bites for tomorrow." At this, Megamind tips his head the other way. She glares at him. "What."

His mouth does a twitchy thing and his eyes are suspiciously sparkly. If Roxanne didn't know better, she'd say he was trying not to laugh at her. "Miss Ritchi," he says, "you could have asked me." Then, when Roxanne looks dubious, he spreads his hands. "It's simple. The question is whether principles are easier to violate than rules. Section 7201 is all about intent."

Roxanne stares at him. "What? You…"

"Make it about philosophy rather than fact, and you should be able to keep Faber talking as long as you need him to," Megamind says. Then he blinks and rounds his shoulders a little, pulls back into himself.

Roxanne stares harder. "So, wait…the key to getting you to talk," she says slowly, "is to bug you about _taxes?_ "

Megamind looks away.

Roxanne snorts. "Pass," she mutters. "But thanks, I'll…keep that in mind. You, um, you pay your taxes?" she asks, hoping to get him talking a little more.

He nods fractionally. No luck.

"Oh, for the love of…" Roxanne breaks off, shaking her head and deciding not to finish her sentence. _You're allowed to talk_ , she wants to say, _you're allowed to live! Although I don't know if I'd call being able to cite specific code sections_ living, _exactly_ … Instead, she stands up and goes over to her television, rummages in the little compartment underneath it. "Well, thanks for listening, anyway," she says, crouching to try and see in the dark space. "I feel better. Aha!" She holds up her prize and turns around brandishing two wheels, slightly dusty but still solid.

"So, Spaceman," she says, making Megamind blink and frown at her, "you know how to play MarioKart? Best thing for a bad mood."

An hour later, with Roxanne cussing him out between gritted teeth, Megamind asks, "The best thing for a bad mood is to make it worse?" He doesn't like Rainbow Road.

"Sometimes," Roxanne mutters, and chucks a red shell at him. Nobody likes Rainbow Road.

Some time after that, Megamind says, "I _do_ my taxes. Minion paid and mailed them."

Roxanne glances over at him. "Really? I sort of figured he'd be the one doing the clerical stuff and you'd just…sign them, or whatever."

"Paying and mailing is clerical," he tells her. "But he doesn't…didn't know everything he would have needed to fill out the forms."

She swallows. "You guys were a good team."

Megamind nods. "I don't know what to do without him," he says, and runs her straight off the road while she's still blinking at how unusually frank he'd sounded.

"Son of a bitch," Roxanne exclaims, startled, but Megamind only smirks.

Then he asks, "Why do you leave notes?"

"Notes…oh, the chore lists? They remind me what I want to get done so I don't have to think about it," she says. "It keeps me from forgetting. And if I have a lot to do, it's easier to figure out what to do first if I have it all written down." She shrugs. "It's just easier in general, I think."

"I should try that," he murmurs.

Conversation lapses after that, but Roxanne goes to bed that night pleased with herself.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

And who knows? Maybe this is helping; Megamind does seem to be coming back into himself somewhat. He starts to talk more, he makes eye contact more often, and his silent spells are becoming less and less frequent.

A full month and a half after Roxanne finds him wet on the street, she walks in the door to see him darting at the stove with a fork. He's trying to turn pieces of chicken in a buttery pan before the hot butter spits at him, hissing swears at the hot pan when it splatters.

She claps a hand to her mouth to stifle her laugh, but Megamind hears anyway; he spins and stares at her, affronted, two bright spots of color high on his cheeks. "Does it do this when you do it?" he demands. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Are you _cooking?_ " Roxanne, still laughing, drops her keys and shrugs her purse onto the table beside them. "Let me see. What are you using?"

"Butter," he tells her, skipping back at her approach. He still hasn't stopped flinching when she touches him, so Roxanne has mostly stopped trying. "Salt. Pepper."

She looks at the pan, then at her roommate, then at the note paper on the counter—it's not one of hers; it looks like Megamind has actually been writing down what Roxanne does to cook dinner and was following that. There's another list taped to the microwave door. "You did just right. Nothing wrong here."

"But it's _biting_ ," he insists, glaring at the pan.

Roxanne laughs again. "It bites me, too, Megamind. I'm just used to it. You've never been burned before?"

"Of course," he huffs. "Lots of times. But not with it…pinching like this."

Grinning, Roxanne shakes her head. "You'll be fine. I'm going to get changed out of this skirt. And then I've got something for you, too!"

His eyebrows shoot up but he doesn't ask, only watches her until she's into her bedroom and the door closed. By the time Roxanne is back, wearing an old pair of jeans instead of the pencil skirt and hose she's been trapped in all day, he's got the chicken on a plate, the broccoli in a bowl, and _turn off oven_ crossed off on the door of the microwave.

( _Checklists_ , he thinks. _Tedious but useful_. It's an extra step than he's used to and it's so _boring_ , but…as far as knowing where to start and what to do next, turns out they work pretty well. There's also the fact that sometimes he feels almost okay in the back of his head again—sometimes he picks things up, a low hum that he's not sure if he's hearing or feeling—and that seems to be helping, too, but Megamind has his own ideas about that. Most of the ideas involve trying not to think about how Roxanne will kick him out for sure if the hum means what he hopes it doesn't.)

"Man, you really did cook," Roxanne says, impressed and oblivious to Megamind's mental struggles. "With the oven and everything, look at you go!"

"I got bored," he says quietly, but his ears are pink.

They eat at the island like they usually do, Roxanne telling Megamind everything from the office that day. He even manages to ask a couple questions about various people she'd mentioned on days prior.

She tells him about Hal again, too. "He invited me over to his place tonight," she says. "He's having another party, apparently. He has a lot of those."

Megamind looks at her, suddenly tongue-tied. Roxanne is getting used to that, but it's still a little strange when it happens. She waits, and Megamind finally asks, "Why…?"

"Why…didn't I go?" she says, then shrugs when he nods. "I don't know. Hal's nice enough, but…he acts like we're together." She rests her chin in her hand, elbow on the counter, and rolls her last piece of broccoli around on her plate with her fork. "I don't know how to tell him how off-putting it is. Not that I haven't tried. But I also had to stop at the shop on my way home!" she adds, hopping down from the tall chair. "Wait juuust a sec…"

She hurries over to her purse and comes back with a flat, brown box, which she hands to Megamind before climbing back into her seat, folding her hands in her lap and looking excited. "I found these while I was out shopping yesterday. I wasn't going to…well, but I had to. You'll see."

He blinks at her, mystified and almost smiling, and takes off the lid, brushes white tissue paper aside. Then he blinks again and pulls back. His eyebrows twist together and his eyes widen a little in uncertain surprise.

Gloves. She'd bought him gloves.

And they look like they'll actually fit, which is incredible; Megamind's measurements are fairly unique. They must be custom. They must have been terribly expensive. Why would she buy him these? What is she thinking?

Slowly, he takes them out of the box. They're dark gray and have reinforced stitching, intended to be worn during various daily activities, but they're short in the wrist rather than being the opera-length kind Megamind usually wears. They're nothing he would have been caught dead in, before, but now…

"Gloves," he murmurs. "Where did you…?"

"Never mind 'where,' how do they fit?" Roxanne asks.

Megamind swallows and slips one onto his hand, thumbing the snap closed around the ball of his wrist. He flexes his fingers, makes a fist, feels the new leather creak around his knuckles when he squeezes. God, he's missed this. "Like a glove," he says, putting the other one on and repeating the motion.

"Oh, good!" Roxanne smiles, looking relieved. "I mean, he said they would, but…I wasn't sure."

"He?" Megamind asks. This is more questions than he usually asks in one night, more questions than he usually feels able to ask, but…he doesn't usually get presents, let alone such thoughtful ones.

"David. At Caladan's Custom Leather Apparel. They make your gloves, I just found out. I was walking the other day and I saw their display, and…" Roxanne colors under her freckles. "Well, I thought of you. You've _always_ worn gloves. So tonight, I went in to ask about a custom pair. I thought Dave would need measurements, but I guess he realized who I was talking about when I mentioned you have really long hands." She laughs a little. "I'm…still pretty known for being your old kidnappee. That probably helped with the deduction a little.

"So he brought these out. Said he'd made them a while ago on a whim, sort of for practice and sort of because he was thinking it might be nice to offer you some variety, but his boss said you'd hate them."

"They wouldn't have fit the uniform," Megamind says, still staring at his hands.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what Dave said. So I brought them home. I know they're not your usual, but…" She peers at him, looking nervous. "Do you like them?"

Megamind nods wordlessly. Yes, he likes them. He loves them. They're perfect. He can't wear them to cook with, of course, but…for everything else, these are his hands. The gloves he'd been wearing when he'd left the Lair had frozen and cracked back in January, when he'd been living behind the library up on Fourth Street, and his hands haven't felt right since. Too bare. He hasn't been bare-handed for more than a couple hours at a time since he was a teenager.

He looks up at her, thinking again that these must have been expensive. They're the only pieces of his old outfit that Minion ever needed to outsource, and Minion was always one to gripe about costs. Megamind's opera gloves, with their steel spikes and buckles and silk linings, easily ran over four hundred dollars a pair. "How much?" he finally asks. He fully intends to repay her, but Roxanne just scoffs and shakes her head.

"Don't worry about it," she starts to say, then stops, startled, when Megamind puts a hand over hers.

"No," he says, low and urgent, "how much? Gloves cost a lot. I know."

"Dave only charged me for the materials," she tells him, blinking. "Since he'd had them for so long and it wasn't like you were going to want to buy them."

Megamind's gaze slips sideways, then darts back to her face. "Sixty?" he asks. "Dark kid leather, unlined, shortie cut without embel _ee_ eshments, steel snaps?"

"Yeah," Roxanne says. "You're good."

"I know my gloves." Megamind shakes his head, pulls his hand back and sits up a little. "That's…I'll add that to the rest I owe you."

Roxanne frowns and shakes her head. "I told you, it's fine."

"It's not." And there's that hum again—a warmth in the back of his skull where Minion used to tick with him, and Megamind's not completely sure what it is. He's felt it a few times over the past month or so, and it's starting to come in almost every day, now. Probably nothing to worry about, but it only happens when Roxanne is home, and something about that…bothers him. He has some suspicions—nothing solid, but none of his ideas are good.

He doesn't say anything about that, though. He just sticks with, "It's not," and waits.

Roxanne looks at him for a moment, then shrugs. "Okay. Whatever you're comfortable with. But you don't have to keep track, really."

Megamind doesn't argue, but he frowns. Seriously, who is she kidding? He sleeps in her home, he eats her food—though he's managing to find ways around that by doing after-hours shopping at the grocery several blocks away every week or so—he uses her hot water, and now she's spent way more than she should have on a pair of gloves for him, which is an entirely frivolous expense and he knows it.

Why is she being so _nice?_ It's unsettling. He'd thought maybe if he cooked, maybe if he cleaned and fixed what he could find and did the things she wanted to get done, maybe that would balance the inequity somewhat, but now these gloves…

He flexes his fingers again, feels the comforting pull of leather over his joints. He shouldn't accept them. He should tell her no, take them back, he's fine without them. But…

"Thanks for dinner, by the way," Roxanne says, smiling at him. "Good job."

Megamind's heart turns over. _I'm in trouble,_ he thinks.

Minion would have known what to do.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

He's gone again when Roxanne wakes up the next morning, and there's no note this time. His gloves are back in their box.

 _Well, that's okay_ , she supposes. It's fine, he's allowed to leave, it's fine, but…he's not back that night. Worry gnaws at Roxanne's stomach, but she banishes it with an effort. Megamind can come and go as he pleases. It's not her job to keep him.

Still, she remembers how he'd reacted to her spur-of-the-moment gift and she can't help but feel like she'd spooked him somehow. But why? He's always worn gloves and she'd thought he might like to have a pair again. Then again, the fact that he'd actually touched her—he'd reached out—once he'd had them on hadn't escaped her notice, so maybe they mean more than she'd thought.

Dinner is too quiet and there are too many leftovers and she can't focus on her book. She goes to bed early but doesn't sleep well. In the morning, she pokes her head around Megamind's screen, but he's still not in his bed.

She texts Metro Man that afternoon. _Mmd missing again_.

Her phone pings half an hour later. _Something happen?_

 _I got him a pair of gloves_ , Roxanne texts back, feeling immensely silly. Watch, Megamind will come back and the gloves will have nothing to do with his absence. _U know why he'd run?_

 _IDK. Gloves are kinda personal_.

 _Really?_ she replies.

 _They have to be made specially for him, right?_

Frustrated, she sends, _Why does that make a difference?_

 _Means you're willing to go to additional effort. You're already thinking about him even when he's not there and you're paying close enough attention to know he'd want them_.

Roxanne grinds her teeth for a second. _Still not seeing a problem_.

He calls her instead of responding via text. "Roxie, you gave a personalized, custom gift to someone who's spent basically his whole life convinced he's not worth giving two shits about, and you're really not able to get why that might freak him out?" Metro Man sounds as annoyed as Roxanne feels.

She recoils, unsure where the rudeness is coming from. " _Convinced_ is a little strong," she protests. "He's not that bad."

"Uhh, _yeah_ , he is. Trust me, I know."

"How do you _know?_ "

"Because I spent most of our childhood beating it into him," Metro Man snaps. "Me and pretty much everybody else." There's a pause while Roxanne gapes into the middle distance, blindsided by both his tone and the revelation. "Look, Roxie, I was a spoiled, jealous, mean little kid. I was in high school before I finally got some sense knocked into me. The damage was done, so yeah, I'd say he's _pretty convinced_. Okay?"

Roxanne blinks. "Are you…wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah. I bullied the hell out of him. Straight-up. Nobody cared enough to stop me."

"Why are you _telling_ me this?" It's so abrupt that it leaves her head spinning. What on Earth?

"Oh, gee, Idon't know!" Metro Man says, sharp, and Roxanne's eyebrows fly up her forehead—sarcasm is not like him. "Definitely _not_ because I feel responsible and I'm worried he's off having some kind of crazy meltdown somewhere because someone's finally giving him the time of day. Good gravy, Roxie, why do you _think?_ "

Roxanne waits for a moment, then says quietly, "Wayne. Come on."

A tired-sounding scoffing sigh crackles over the line. "Sorry. Not fair to take it out on you." He sighs again. "Well, now you know."

Roxanne isn't sure how much of his "feeling responsible" is fair, since Metro Man feels responsible for pretty much everything. But then, maybe this is why. Guilt would explain why he's been so ready to help, and it would certainly explain why he'd always been so quick to defend Megamind when Roxanne tried to gripe to him about the villain in the past. She takes a deep breath. "So…what should I do?" she asks.

"Hell if I know. Just leave your door unlocked and hope he comes back. He probably will. But if Minion's dead, I don't know whether…" He trails off, then resumes with, "Anyway, he'll probably be back. Listen, I gotta go, I hear sirens."

Scowling, Roxanne hangs up. "Great," she mutters. No actual help from Metro Man's quarter, and that evening when she gets home she finds that her landlord had finally gotten around to sending her the second set of keys she'd requested more than a week ago. The keys only make her feel worse.

Is it true, though? Is that why Megamind asked again if he could stay when he'd brought his clothes home—he doesn't think she'd want him to stay as long as he needs to? _What the hell?_ Surely, she thinks, there must have been someone besides Minion to tell him not to listen to the bullies at school. One of the guys at the prison must have cared. They must have.

 _But nobody who could have actually helped_ , she thinks.

But he's a hugely successful supervillain! He's wildly intelligent, he's witty, he's…athletic? He has good fashion sense? He's a good listener. He _must_ know that whatever Metro Man said back then isn't true anymore, if any of it was true to begin with.

She bites her lip, staring at her phone, wondering if she'd accidentally caused some kind of existential crisis and hoping he'll be there when she gets home. He isn't, and she goes to work the next morning feeling like she's swallowed a bag of rocks. She's too nervous to eat lunch or focus much on what she's doing.

But that evening there's a knock on the door and Megamind is standing in the hall when Roxanne opens it, and she's so glad to see him that she can't even be upset. "Megamind!" she exclaims, and she's _this close_ to hugging him—but then she remembers that he has issues with touch and maybe she'd better not. She settles for awkwardly patting his shoulder and then pulling him inside by the elbow.

Megamind stiffens when she starts towards him, but she looks relieved rather than angry and it throws him off. He'd expected yelling about being gone for three days with no word.

"You're back," Roxanne says as she closes the door behind him. She's _smiling_. Smiling and staring at him. This was not the response he'd anticipated. "Good, that's…good."

"I…" Megamind says, then clears his throat. "I can find somewhere else, if…I don't want to, um, I think the phrase is 'over stay my invitation?'"

But Roxanne shakes her head. "No, that's not what I meant. I…it's nice having you around, I'm used to the company now. It was too quiet with you gone." She swallows, changes the subject. "Where'd you go?"

"I needed to get…some things," he says in an odd sort of monotone. "S-sorry. I'm. Going to brush my teeth now."

Roxanne nods. "Okay, sure, whatever," she says, then collapses back into her orange armchair. _Okay. He's back. He didn't go throw himself off a bridge. I didn't ruin everything_. Her hands are shaking, so she puts her face in them. "Okay," she whispers into her palms, and sits, and tries to relax for a while.

"Miss Ritchi?"

She jumps. _Back so soon?_ she thinks, and suppresses the desire to laugh. "Megamind, for goodness sake. You live here; I think we're on a first-name basis."

He colors. "Roxanne, then," he says. "I…picked this up while I was out. For you," and he ducks forward and puts a velveteen jewelry case on the arm of her chair before skipping back again.

Roxanne arches an eyebrow at him and opens the little magnet, moves the soft fabric away, then looks sharply up at Megamind. "You didn't have to."

It's a tennis bracelet, silver with pale green stones. Roxanne looks at it, then looks back up at Megamind for a long, long moment. He fidgets but doesn't say anything. This is to offset the gloves, Roxanne knows. Part of her wants to tell him he really shouldn't have, that the gloves were a gift, she doesn't need anything in return.

The rest of her knows he won't buy that.

Finally she says, "It's lovely. Is it okay if I hug you?" He looks taken aback at that one, but after a startled pause, he gives her a jerky nod. "Thanks," she says, and rises, steps close, pulls him in.

Megamind pats her on the back a few times with one hand, leaving his other arm handing stick-straight by his side. Roxanne nearly laughs; it's like he's never hugged anybody before. "Put your arms around me, doofus," she tells him with a little squeeze. Gingerly, Megamind obeys. _He's not very good at this_ , Roxanne thinks, amused, and tries to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that whispers, _But he'll learn_.

She pulls back after only a couple seconds. Megamind looks vastly bewildered about this most recent turn of events, and Roxanne decides that as long as she's got him off-balance she might as well go all the way. "Hey, um, a little while ago, I asked my landlord for a spare set of keys. They sent them up yesterday, so…you don't have to knock anymore when you get back in." She reaches for the bowl, pulls out a ring of four keys and hands it to him. "Here."

Megamind takes the box because there's not much else for him to do, then stares at them. His gaze flicks to Roxanne and his brow furrows. "Miss Ritchi," he says, because that feels safer than calling her Roxanne, "why are you doing this?"

Roxanne pinches her lips together. She's been thinking about that a lot over the past couple days. "Well," she says slowly, "a few reasons. But I guess the main one is that life's boring without you in it and…you need a place to stay." She offers him a half-smile. "And if you can't go to your home, I want you to stay at mine."

Megamind blinks at her, then down at the keys in his hand, and feels more lost than ever. He had thought that cooking and doing chores and taking over the things Minion had done for him would make him feel balanced, but it didn't. So then he had thought that a gift like the bracelet would make him feel balanced, but that isn't working, either.

"You look like you want to say something," Roxanne tells him. "What's up?"

He raises his head. "I kidnap you," he says. "I aim guns and flamethrowers at you. You've nearly died at my hands. And you…" He trails off, feeling like his heart's about to leap into his throat. "You're giving me keys."

Roxanne frowns at him, looking like she doesn't understand. "Why does any of that mean I can't share my home with you?" she asks. "Where is that written?"

He regards her for a long moment, then says, "I'm a supervillain."

"You're my friend."

Megamind closes his mouth with a snap and stares at her, sure he's misheard. Roxanne stares right back. She's not smiling anymore but there's no guile in her face, and after a moment, she clenches her jaw and scowls. "You're my _friend_ ," she says again, "and I've been worried sick for three days, thinking I scared you off with those damn gloves. I just thought you'd like them, and I could afford it, and…and then you were gone. That's all. I called Metro Man," she adds, and his eyes narrow before he can stop them. "He wasn't even surprised you took off. Something about you being convinced you're not worth giving a shit about." She shakes her head and cocks her hips. Megamind pulls back a little but Roxanne doesn't wait for him to say anything. "Now, I don't know if that's true, but if it is…unless you're gonna stand there and, and tell me _to my_ _face_ that I'm wrong for wanting to do something nice for my friend…then you're just gonna have to wrap your head around the fact that somebody out there actually likes you. Okay? Can you do that?"

Megamind's lips twitch. "I can do that," he says in a low voice. And then, before he can tell himself not to, he takes three steps forward and pushes his forehead against Roxanne's for half a heartbeat before spinning on his heel and heading for the kitchen—partly to get a glass of water, mostly so he won't see the look on her face. He's not sure how she'll respond to that one.

"What…was that?" Roxanne asks after a couple seconds of confused silence.

"You're my friend too," Megamind tells her without turning around.

"Oh." There's another pause. "Good."

He busies himself at the tap. Hopefully, she'll never know how hard it was for him to come back here. Living here is…comfortable. Nice. It's warm and bright and she smiles at him, she talks to him like he's a person but she doesn't expect an answer, she acts like the answers he gives aren't halting and odd. Living here is wonderful.

Living here also freaks him out something fierce. He's waiting for the other shoe to drop and he doesn't know where he is without Minion. If Minion were here, Megamind could breathe easily. If Minion were here, Megamind wouldn't struggle to find the first step to standing up and doing something. And yes, he's starting to get the hang of it again but that comes and go with the humming in his mind; if Minion were here, Megamind wouldn't have lost track of himself to begin with.

Sleeping underground was safer, it was more familiar; it was lonely and dark and there were no expectations. As much as Roxanne hasn't mentioned any expectations, Megamind can't help but feel like they exist and he's missing them.

He almost wasn't going to come back. He almost fled back to the drainage system under Metro City, where it was cold and damp and lonely and he knew the score, he'd almost gathered up all his bedding and moved it to a secondary location deeper down where they wouldn't be able to find him even knowing he was in the storm drains. At least then he'd be safe. But…

But it was cold down there. And it was damp, and dark, and he missed having a bed more than he'd realized at first. And Roxanne had said he could stay, so…

He swallows. When the other shoe does finally drop, when Roxanne realizes he's only partly himself without his Minion, when she finally figures out he's an inarticulate, invasive buffoon and she kicks him out for good…that's when he'll go back below. He can go back anytime, anyway; he doesn't have to stay. But he does _want_ to stay, so…as long as she lets him, he will. He'll bring groceries when he can. He'll bring her gifts. He'll do what he can to maintain the balance because right now balance is all he knows how to do.

He leans heavily on the sink with a gentle humming in his mind and not his ears, missing Minion.


	4. Chapter 4

Ahhh, the dream chapter! Such a fun trope. :) Ehhhh I still feel like the pacing is a bit off, but see what you think.

On with the show!

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 4**

 **The Show Must Go On – Queen**

Several nights later, Megamind wakes with a start from the middle of a dream in which there are too many rooms with too many windows and too many eyes outside, and he's running, he's looking for something but he can't find it and he can't remember what it was he was looking for.

For a moment, he stares up at the ceiling, confused. He doesn't ordinarily wake up while he's dreaming, so what…?

Ah. Roxanne. She's sleep-talking again—although perhaps sleep-yelling might be more accurate in this case. This isn't the first time Megamind has heard her voice from behind the wall, but this is certainly the loudest.

And this is the first time he's heard her sound scared. Maybe he should do something. What's she saying? He sits up as he listens, tilting his head to hear better.

She's not saying much that he can understand, mostly just yelling and distressed noises with some "no"s thrown in here and there. Concerned, he gets out of bed and creeps over to Roxanne's bedroom door, opening it as gingerly as he can and poking his head in. Nothing bad happens, but he's still about to chicken out—Megamind does _not_ want Roxanne to wake up and find him in her bedroom while she's asleep, he's not okay with that and he's never been okay with it. He's not that kind of man, and—

And that's when Roxanne throws a "Megamind" in with all the distressed noises, and Megamind forgets all about standards and comfort levels. He doesn't know if she's calling for him or warning against him, but either way, that dream needs to end now. He walks quickly to her bed, turning on her bedside lamp so that she won't wake to darkness and shadows, and reaches for her shoulder. "Miss Ritchi?" he hisses, squinting in the sudden glare, shaking her. "Roxanne!"

She comes awake with a little shriek, sees him looming over her, and punches him square in the teeth.

Megamind _oof_ s, stumbles, almost falls because she'd caught him so off-balance. "Ow," he mumbles, pressing the back of his hand against his mouth.

Roxanne scrambles upright, disoriented and groggy, pressing her back against the headboard. "M-Megamind?" she stammers, staring at him as though she's not sure what's going on and rubbing the knuckles she'd hit him with. "What are you…?"

"This's why I don't help people," he mutters, sitting on the edge of her bed and hunching a little. He takes his hand away and glances at it. No blood. Well, that's good, for a moment he'd thought his lip would be split—she hadn't hit him hard, but all bets are off when teeth are involved. "Are you okay?"

She nods, still totally bewildered. "Y-yes, yes, I'm fine, I…" She stares at him. His face has pillow-creases on it and his eyes look tired; she must have woken him up. "Oh, jeez. Megamind. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"'S okay." One narrow shoulder raises and lowers in a shrug. "I startled you."

"No, it's my fault," she insists, because it is. "That stupid _dream!_ _Ugh_ , I _hate_ these!" She shoves herself angrily backwards against her headboard, knocking her head against the wall and glaring up at the ceiling. "I have them two or three times in a row and they always suck. But I didn't think I'd wake anyone else up with them."

Megamind frowns at her. "This happens often?"

"Once every few months or so, I guess." She shakes her head and sighs, leans forward to rub at her eyes. "They're just…unsettling, that's all. Sorry."

Megamind is quiet, which Roxanne doesn't mind; she's trying to banish the hazy memory of the thing perched on the desk with its too-wide mouth showing teeth like tombstones, blood on its hands and its face, blood all the way up to its elbows, blood freckling around its bone-white eyes. Its face is different every time. Ordinarily she doesn't remember who it looked like, but this was one of the times when the thing was just too distinctive to be forgotten.

She glances up at Megamind and a half-smile tugs at her lips in spite of herself. "You ever get bad dreams?"

He nods. After a moment, he surprises her by saying, "Helps to talk about them. Sometimes." His eyes are flicking all over the place but they keep sliding back to Roxanne as he adds, "If you want," and swallows.

Roxanne shrugs. _Can't hurt_ , she thinks, and takes a deep breath. "It's always a different location. Usually a hotel or convention center, somewhere where there should be a lot of people." It's been a while since she's told anyone about these. Usually, the first thing people ask is what causes them, but as far as she can tell, they don't really have a cause. Some deep-seated fear of misjudging a situation, she supposes, but other than that she's not sure. "And there's a…a monster, or something? I don't really know what to call it. It hardly ever looks the same twice in a row but it's…usually human, I think."

There's a pause. Some sort of response seems warranted, so Megamind manages another question; Roxanne's tone when she'd said _usually_ made him prick up his ears. "But not this time?"

She glances at him, looking briefly surprised, but then she just gives a short, strange little laugh and hurries on without answering his question. "Anyway, I have to stay away from it, because if it sees me, I die." She sighs and looks away, fiddles with the blankets in her lap. "There's no fighting it. So…I have to find an exit, but if I don't find it fast enough, then avoiding the monster is harder because I can't just stay away from where people are screaming—because it's killed them all." Megamind blinks at her but doesn't interrupt. She sounds almost embarrassed, if he's reading her correctly, but this sounds more frightening than embarrassing. "So, if I don't get out fast, then I'm, I'm trying to decide whether it's the kind of monster that won't retrace its steps. If it doesn't go where it's already been, I can just stay where everything is bloody and I'll be safe."

Megamind swallows. "It kills people you care about?" he guesses, half-startling himself with more input. Roxanne looks up at him, then shakes her head.

"No…I don't see who it kills. It eats the bodies. If I can see who it kills, then it can see _me_ , and…" She trails off with an uncomfortable-looking shrug and looks away again.

"It kills you," Megamind supplies.

"Yeah. So I don't see bodies. But there's…blood everywhere?" This comes out as more of a question. _Embarrassed_ , he thinks again, but he still has no idea why she'd feel any shame over a nightmare. "Teeth here and there, clumps of…anyway, it's gross." She stretches her legs out under the covers, oblivious to the way Megamind is staring at her. Everyone has nightmares sometimes; he's always known that, but he'd never thought that Roxanne's would be so visceral. He'd never imagined Roxanne Ritchi would be one to dream about actual viscera.

"But that's just if I decide it's unlikely to retrace its steps," she continues. "If I'm wrong, and it's the type of monster that likes familiarity, then I should stay where the floors are clean. But it's basically a toss-up; there's no way to know which kind of thing it is…" She trails off with another sigh.

"You said my name," Megamind tells her. He scuffs his feet on her carpet a little, nervous about the answer to what he's been wondering since she'd started talking. She glances at him. "Towards the end, you…"

"Y-yeah, that was…that was new," she admits with the same weird laugh from before. "I made it to the stairs, but y-you were…I mean, it wasn't you! I mean…well, anyway." She rubs her eyes a little and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Anyway, _it_ was crouched on top of the front desk, staring right at me. Its eyes were white. And it…didn't have your beard. For some reason." She rubs her hand backwards through her short hair, shaking her head. "God. I'm…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

Megamind stares at her for another moment, then stands. "I should go."

"What? No—" She reaches out and grabs his wrist. "No, stay."

He tugs away, his lip curling, and she drops her hand. "Miss Ritchi, if you're having dreams of me like… _that_ …"

"No, no, I _told_ you, it wasn't you," she insists, and she certainly looks honest enough. The embarrassment makes sense, now, when she shrugs and flushes and says, "It just…looked like you, this time." She swallows hard, but doesn't lean away from him. She's still half-reaching for him, her hand on the blankets where it had fallen when he pulled back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell you the last part. If—if it helps, it's looked like Metro Man before."

Megamind hesitates, then slowly sits back down. "It…it has?"

Roxanne nods. "A couple times. This is actually the first time it's had your face." She lets go of his wrist and scrubs both hands down her own face with a groan. "Ugh, I _wasn't_ gonna say anything about it looking like you," she mumbles.

"Hm." He pauses, sucking on his sore lip and staring down at his feet. _I should say something_ , he thinks. _Something funny. Something to ease the tension. I should say something ridiculous_. "S-so…this would be a bad time to show you the trick where I can roll my eyes back in my head."

Roxanne groans and kicks at him from under the covers, but she's grinning. Megamind relaxes. That must have been the right thing to say. "You goof," Roxanne says. "No, don't show me that trick right now. Are you okay?" she adds, and it's so sudden that he looks over and blinks at her for a full second. "I really didn't mean to punch you, I just…the thing came at me like it usually does when it catches me, and when I woke up and you were there, I…"

He shakes his head. "I've had worse. Not my first bruised lip. Trust me."

"Still, I'm sorry. Let me see?" She reaches forward and takes him by the chin, turns his face towards her; startled, he lets her, though he stops breathing for a moment when she brushes the pad of her thumb across his lower lip. Roxanne frowns at his mouth, looking for a visible bruise and seeing none, just some swelling on the left side—and then she realizes how huge Megamind's eyes are and what exactly she's just done, and she jerks her hand back, blushing furiously. "Oh…crap, I'm _sorry_ , I'm…I keep forgetting you don't like to be touched. Probably still half-asleep. Not an excuse, I'm so sorry."

He turns away again, looking almost like she's punched him again. "I," he says unevenly, then clears his throat. "If you're feeling better, I should really go. Back to bed."

Feeling like a heel, she nods. Megamind had woken her up from a nightmare, and in return for his trouble he'd gotten smacked in the face and had his space invaded. And on top of that, even though Roxanne knows he doesn't respond well to touch, all she wants to do is ask him for a hug. _Good_ lord, _can I stop being so freaking selfish?_

She swallows. "Right, right, of course," she says. "Thanks, though. F-for waking me up. And sitting with me. I appreciate it." She turns out the bedside light without mentioning hugs; he'd been uncomfortable enough last time and she's already abused him enough for one night.

Megamind pauses at the door and looks back, but she's already lying back down and doesn't see. He opens his mouth—to say what, he isn't sure; probably "good night" or something equally inane—but Roxanne interrupts him, heaving a quiet sigh and whispering, "God, let him be okay," and Megamind realizes that she thinks he's already gone.

He steps quietly out of the room, leaving the door cracked behind him to let some light in.

Sleep takes a while to find him again. Roxanne's hand, gentle on his jaw, her fingertips on his skin…that was new. New, and…nice, and…

And he wants to ask Minion about it. _Fuck_.

Of course he can't tell Roxanne that most of his shock when she'd touched him had stemmed from the fact that she was, as she'd said, half-asleep; Megamind had never anticipated that she might reach out in such an uninhibited state. Especially after a dream like the one she'd described. But he can't tell her that, and he can't ask Minion about it, either. He won't be able to ask Minion about anything ever again, and it's his fault, and if he'd just tried _harder_ he could have _fixed_ it and Minion would _be here_.

Not for the first time, his mind starts to cycle through everything he'd done before leaving the Lair and Megamind is left staring up at the ceiling in the dark again, feeling his breath start to shiver in his lungs, watching as the dim room blurs and swims. _Dammit_ , he thinks, choking, _I just want this to stop_. He pulls the spare pillow out from under his arm and presses it to his face with both hands to muffle his sobs.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 _He wakes with a hiss from a dream of hands—other hands, not his hands—and a voice, not his—and slender fingers tangling in his dorsal ridges and ventral ganglia—he wakes to the push-pull of currents, weeds rising and dancing in dappled light._

 _Ah. Yes. This, again._

 _Wait. 'This again,' or should it be 'this, still?' He's losing track._

 _He'd been running on raw instinct when he'd struggled into the only place that felt like home. He was badly confused, cut loose and spinning, and he's still running on instinct and now he can't seem to find his tongue anymore. Or maybe it's that he can't find words to fit his tongue. He isn't sure._

 _He'd had words, once. He'd had hands, too, and a singing in his mind and heart. Once upon a time he'd run on those, set his life to the singing instead of raw instinct, but he's having a hard time following the tune now that he can't hear it anymore. The rhythm is gone._

 _The memories hurt and he pushes them away and dives deep, until the weeds thin and the rocks smooth out below him, heading deep for icy dark; he finds subtle comfort in the heavy weight of water and the pressure rocking him close to the bottom. Prey swims close, attracted to his light, and for a while he thinks of nothing, losing himself in the stones and shipwrecks. The moon's rhythm is achingly slow, but it's all he has, anymore_.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The next night is Friday, and Megamind is loath to go to sleep. He stands in front of the glass doors that lead out onto Roxanne's deck, staring at nothing, thinking of Minion, thinking of Roxanne, thinking that he almost can't stand the way everything is starting to feel normal.

Something needs to change. Megamind's not sure what, he's not sure Roxanne even realizes how close he is to breaking and running, but he knows—somewhere deep in the back of his head where Minion was cut away—he knows running again would be a bad idea. He's been telling himself he can leave anytime if he needs to, but…

That's starting to look less and less like an option. _Better get out now_ , he thinks. _It can't go both ways. It_ …

"Hey," Roxanne says as she comes up behind him. "Everything okay? You seem down."

"I miss Minion," he blurts at her reflection, entirely without meaning to. "I miss him so badly that sometimes I think I might die. I don't know what I'm doing and I can't seem to maintain more than one train of thought anymore, but the one I do have switches tracks so often." His chest pulls tight but he can't seem to stop—at least it doesn't feel like he's about to start crying in front of her, which is nice; he has his pride, after all—and it takes him another few seconds before he can dam the words spilling all over the place. "Minion was always there. Always. Since we were infants. And now he's gone and I'm not…" _I'm not me anymore_ , he almost says, but that would lead to too many questions. He can already feel himself losing track of what he'd meant, so he settles almost desperately for, "I'm not sure how to keep going. I can't just stay here. In your life. Like a _leech_ ," he spits, "but I don't know what else to do."

Roxanne stares at him. "You're not a leech," she protests. "Megamind, seriously, I know at some point you'll have to figure out your own life, but there's no rush."

Megamind stares back at her in the glass, unable to articulate how her welcome makes his head spin. Then he turns. "We're almost out of groceries," he says, trying not to sound as abrupt and stilted as he feels. "Come with me."

Roxanne reels a little, but she starts to smile as she looks back and forth between his eyes, searching. "What? Now? It's almost midnight."

"It's Friday." He's already heading for his shoes. "You said yesterday, you have this weekend off."

"I meant, everywhere within walking distance is closed."

Megamind glances back at her. "Your point is?"

She follows him over to the closet, pulls out her sneakers. "My point is, we'll be breaking and entering."

"Hardly the worst crime I've been accused of," he scoffs. Talking about this is _much_ easier than thinking about Minion and the slowly-filling empty space in the back of his mind.

Roxanne puts her shoes on without untying the laces, something that would have made Minion go into fits about wearing them out faster, and takes something brown and leathery out of a box in the back of the closet, shoves them into her pocket. "How about theft?"

"Still not as bad as conspiracy to commit murder." Then, at her startled glance, he explains, "Metro Man."

It's not much of an explanation, but then, it doesn't need to be. Roxanne nods, her expression clearing. "Ah."

"And it isn't theft," he adds, shrugging his empty duffel bag onto his shoulder and holding the door open for her as she stands up and picks up her keys. "It's survival." He steps into the hall after her.

"It's illegal," Roxanne mutters, locking up behind them. "And it's not survival if you don't haveto do it. I can't believe you talked me into this."

Megamind rolls his eyes. "Oh, yes. I really twisted your arm, Miss Ritchi. Were those gloves you brought along without any prompting from me? To hide your fingerprints?"

She takes them out of her pocket, flushing. "Y-yes."

"Mm- _hm_ ," he says, and no one but Megamind can make two affirmative hums sounds so sarcastic. "You're _prepared_ , Miss Ritchi. Don't blame me for that."

He leads her down the back stairs and out behind the building, where he works his fingers into the rectangular grate of a storm drain. It's solid iron and heavy, but Megamind pulls from his knees and his core and shifts the grate up and moves it sideways enough for him to drop in. Then he turns and holds his hands up to Roxanne, offering to assist her.

She hesitates, looking longingly at the narrow road that leads around her building and out to River Street. "We can't just walk there?"

"The city has cameras everywhere. I don't want to be seen, do you?"

"Fine." She sits on the edge of the drain, dangling her feet in. "I'm not going to fit," she warns. "You couldn't have moved this grille thing a littlefurther?"

"If I'd moved it more, I wouldn't be able to close it after us," Megamind tells her. "If I can fit, you can fit."

She snorts. "You're sweet, but my butt is way bigger than yours."

"It's not that much bigger than my head, though; it'll fit," Megamind says, and Roxanne drops into the storm drain, laughing, before he can realize how that might have sounded.

The ceilings of the city's drainage system are high in this part of town, and Megamind has to jump a little in order to reach the grate and drag it back the way he'd found it. And dragging isn't as simple as it sounds. If he tried to tug it back while standing on the floor, he would have no leverage at all, so Megamind keeps his palms facing towards him as though he's about to do a chin up as he works his fingers into the grille, because the next thing he's going to have to do is curl his whole body back up to the hole in the pavement and brace his feet on the opposite side of the drain in order to haul the grate back into place.

As much as he'd love to just leave it open—and he would _love_ to leave the grate on the pavement where he'd put it, because moving the grate on the return journey is quite literally a pain—if anyone sees it ajar, that's cause to call the police in this part of town. Megamind had made a long and brilliant career by not cutting corners and never leaving things up to chance, and he's not about to start now.

He dangles for a moment after the grate crashes down, then drops to the floor, breathing hard. There. The second-hardest part of the trip is done—the hardest part will come at the end. He dusts himself off with brisk movements and turns, only to find Roxanne gazing at him with an odd expression on her face.

"What?" he asks, defensive.

She peers at him for a moment longer, then says, "That thing must weigh at least a hundred and fifty pounds."

"Closer to three hundred," Megamind says. "Come on, this way." The subterranean network under Metro City is extensive, and he'd like to get the expedition started. He's not sure what possessed him to invite Roxanne along. Proof that he's not totally inept, perhaps.

"Three hundred pounds?" Roxanne catches his arm as he starts to move past her. "But…Megamind, that has to be almost twice your body weight!"

Megamind blinks at her, turning to tug his arm away. "It's not like I'm throwing it," he says, surprised. She's seen him lift heavy things before, hasn't she?

"I know, just…" She shakes her head. "Wow. Okay. Do you have a flashlight?"

"No. Just stay close, I can see fine. And stay quiet; we're not the only ones down here."

Roxanne follows him through the dark, twisting tunnels, scattering rats with the sounds of her soft footsteps. The whole place smells like mold and dead things, and the only light comes in through more grates high above them—luckily, the city is brightly-lit pretty much all the time, so Roxanne can see enough to follow Megamind and stick close to the walls. Most of the walls are blank except for years of black grime, but a few are decorated with graffiti. She doesn't recognize the tags, even when it's bright enough for her to see them reasonably clearly.

Eventually, Megamind stops and climbs up into a narrower tunnel that branches off from the one they're in—the new one is higher up than the floor they've been walking on, and Megamind turns when he's up and offers a hand to Roxanne. She doesn't feel bad about taking it. Three _hundred_ , she thinks, and Megamind doesn't groan as he pulls her up after him.

They have to walk in a half-crouch now, and Roxanne's legs and back are aching by the time they finally stop under a grate that looks exactly like all the others. "We're here," Megamind says in a low voice. He puts his hands against the grate and then straightens his legs slowly, keeping his head down. The grate rises on his shoulders and he steadies it with his hands, a skinny Atlas, until it's finally high enough for him to heave it sideways onto the pavement.

Roxanne crawls out into a dark alley and stands up with a sigh of relief, her muscles burning from the unfamiliar exercise. She goes to the gym sometimes, but she's never done anything like this before. Megamind steps out of the drain behind her, but all he says is, "This way. Stay close," and he leads her behind the buildings to a door that says Employees Only.

Oddly enough, this is the first time Roxanne has felt any prickles of apprehension. She tries to laugh it off. "Really hope I'm right about you," she whispers to Megamind.

"Right about me, how?" he hisses back, working long wires into the lock in the door handle.

"Oh, a bunch of things…you're smart enough not to get us both caught, you're not leading me on some wild goose chase to kill me and leave my body in a drain. That sort of thing."

"Hmm." The lock clicks and he pushes the door open. "Miss Ritchi, if I were going to kill you, I'd have done it ages ago."

She doesn't tell him that he's acting more like his old self now than he has since she found him. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing you tell someone, and besides, she doesn't want to interrupt his good mood—assuming that's what this is. "Aren't there cameras here?"

"None that I've found. Believe me, I've looked." He drops the duffel bag by the checkout counter and heads for the refrigeration units.

Roxanne looks around. She's pretty sure she recognizes the store—if she's right, they're nearly ten blocks away from her apartment in midtown. She's never gone inside this place, since she does most of her shopping closer to home, but she's driven past it a few times. It's small but reasonably well-stocked.

It's a privately-owned store, she realizes, her heart sinking as she watches Megamind pile various foodstuffs on the counter by the bag. Probably family-owned, and Roxanne's not sure if they can afford to be robbed like this on the regular. She watches, unsure of herself and hoping Megamind will tell her if he wants her to do something, feeling her guilt mount higher by the minute. This was a bad idea. She shouldn't have agreed to come. At least then she wouldn't know.

Megamind finishes gathering food fairly quickly, then lingers at the counter for a while. It's an odd counterpoint to how purposefully he'd been moving before; curious, Roxanne moves a little closer until she can see that he's writing something on receipt paper. Every now and then he raises his head and glances over the little pile of groceries as though he's looking for something before continuing to write.

"What are you doing?" Roxanne asks.

"Can you start putting stuff in the bag?" Megamind ignores her question and doesn't look up. Roxanne frowns but slowly does as he asks. _This was a mistake_ , she thinks again. _I can't let him keep doing this. This is wrong_.

She finishes packing the duffel around the same time Megamind finishes whatever he's writing, and she's starting to lift the bag to begin the trek home when he flutters his long hands at her in almost a shooing motion, then unzips one of the end pockets and fishes out…a wad of cash?

Stunned, Roxanne looks at the receipt paper he'd been writing on. She'd figured it was probably just inventory, and it is, it's a list of everything they're taking…but it's also got costs written down along the right-hand side and a neat total at the bottom, along with what looks like a sales tax calculation. She stares, feeling sudden warmth bloom in her chest. Megamind _pays_ for the stuff he takes?

"M-Michigan doesn't tax food," she stammers.

"Be that as it may," Megamind says, counting out bills next to the register, "I appreciate the inconvenience of looking up all the item numbers to enter them in their system and I think six percent is fair."

Roxanne looks around at the narrow aisles. "And you…you do this every time?" she asks.

He glances up at her and rolls up what's left of his money, paper-clipping the 'receipt' to what he's going to leave behind. "Of course," he replies, sounding surprised. "House rules: no stealing. Besides, the owners could use a little extra; they've got two kids still in diapers." He picks up the duffel and carries it to the door, past Roxanne, who's still staring at him in stunned silence. "What?" he says again.

She shakes her head, remembering what Metro Man had told her months ago: _Megamind is a major force for good in this city_. "Nothing. Sorry. I just…didn't expect this."

Megamind shrugs. "We're still breaking and entering," he points out, but doesn't say much more after that. He locks the door behind them, heaves the drain cover back into place over their heads, and leads Roxanne back through the tunnels, bent double with their groceries hanging in front of him. At one point after they reach the high-ceilinged passage he stops, head tilted, and then his eyes go wide and he pulls Roxanne into a side tunnel and crouches close to the wall, tugging her down beside him without a word. A moment later, Roxanne hears footsteps echoing somewhere distant. She looks at him and cocks an eyebrow, but he only shakes his head and holds a finger to his lips. She nods.

It doesn't matter whether they're moving or not; she can think just as easily here by the wall as she had walking out in the middle of the passage. Megamind had brought her with him when he didn't have to. He's starting to open up a little, maybe even let her in, and…Roxanne isn't sure, but if nothing else, this trip is showing her that the Megamind she'd known before is still in there. He's too quiet, but he'd shown some snark earlier. And his frustration with not knowing how to live means he at least knows he should be living.

 _They have two children still in diapers, they can use the extra money_. He wouldn't have known that unless he'd checked. Even if Roxanne can't always see him improving, Megamind is starting to care about the city again—if he ever stopped; he might not have. Maybe that's why he'd brought her along; maybe he's trying to show her that? The idea makes that little warm spot in her chest heat back up again. On impulse—she needs to do something to show him she's grateful and she already knows he doesn't respond well to verbal thanks—she mimics his gesture from the other day, leaning forward in the dark and nudging her forehead against his.

Megamind pulls back so quickly that he slams the back of his head into the wall, and then he hunches forward with both hands clamped over the back of his skull, hissing like he's sprung a leak. After a moment, he slits an eye open and glares up at a mortified Roxanne, who mouths, _Sorry, I'm sorry!_

 _Ow_ , he mouths back, and she grimaces.

They wait for a few minutes after the distant footsteps fade away before resuming their journey. "Sorry," Roxanne whispers again.

"What were you _doing?_ " Megamind whispers back.

"I just…I don't know," Roxanne says, thinking, _I'm starting to realize that you're way more complicated than I thought and you're fun and I wanted to tell you_ and having absolutely no idea how to phrase any of that. "Just…thanks, I guess."

Megamind shakes his head and doesn't reply.

When they get to the grate where they'd entered, Roxanne looks up at the rectangle of sky above them. "So…how are we going to get out of here?" she asks.

"Same way we came in," Megamind says. "Hold this." He passes her the bag of groceries and Roxanne has to wonder how he plans to lift a three-hundred-pound metal grille when he'd almost had to jump to reach it before, but instead he jogs over to the wall down and pulls a cloth sack out from under a small pile of smelly detritus. In the sack, there's…a box? A black box of some kind, with metal handles on either side. Roxanne raises her eyebrows, but all Megamind says is, "Stand back." Then he hesitates. "And…maybe take off your earrings."

Confused, Roxanne puts them in her pocket. Megamind starts to turn around, but then he spins back, looking like he's just thought of something that spooked him.

"Um," he says, and Roxanne can't be sure because the light is so dim, but she thinks he might be blushing furiously, "do you…have…one of those things in your…it-it-it-it stays and it keeps you from getting pregnant? Is it metal?"

Her mouth falls open. "Are you—asking if I have an IUD?"

"I have no idea. Is that what they're called?"

Roxanne gapes at him for a moment longer, then snorts. "I—yes, I have one, but no, it's not metal."

"No metal plates on your bones? No pins?" he asks, keeping his voice low, and Roxanne shakes her head. Megamind breathes a sigh of relief. "Good," he says, and grips the box by the handles and raises it above his head.

He takes a deep breath, lets it part of the way out, stands with his legs apart and his elbows locked, plants himself like a tree directly under the grate, says, "Activate echo mike two eight seven, zero-comma-one-point-five," and groans and sinks into his hips. Roxanne blinks. Megamind is shaking, his whole face is screwed up as if he's in pain, there are tendons standing out on his long neck. _What the…_

Then she hears a scraping sound and looks up just in time to see almost three hundred pounds of solid iron lift into the air. Not far, and not quickly, but the grate lifts high enough that when Megamind jerks his arms to the side with a pained little sound, it slides sideways and clatters loudly to the pavement. "D-deactivate," Megamind grits through clenched teeth. "Turn _off_ , you _blasted—deactivate!_ " and he all but collapses, staggering sideways when the box powers off and falls to the floor with a thunk.

"That's an electromagnet," Roxanne says. Megamind, gasping and bracing his hands on his knees, gives her a shaky nod. "You just… _from a foot away?_ "

The amount of force it took to lift the grate would have been pushing down on the electromagnetic device and, by extension, on Megamind. Roxanne can feel herself gaping all over again, but what comes out when she finds her voice again is not "I'm impressed!" (which she is) or "where did you find that thing?" (which she wants to know very badly) but an angry, "What the _hell_ were you thinking, holding it above your head?"

He looks up at her. "Wh-what?"

"If you'd lost your grip it would have killed you!" she shrieks in a hoarse whisper, staring at him and wishing she didn't have to worry about her volume. "That box would've hit your head with I don't even _know_ how many Newtons of force and I'd be _scraping_ _your gray matter off the floor of this_ _tunnel!_ "

Megamind blinks at her, slowly straightening, wincing when something pops in his back. "I wouldn't drop it."

"No." Roxanne shakes her head, stalks up to him. "I won't stand for reckless negligence. Not from you." Megamind doesn't back away when she pokes him in the chest. "You're a genius," she tells him, staring straight into his eyes. "And you're going to take that magnet up to my apartment, and you're not doing this again until you've figured out how to increase its effectiveness to the point that you can _set it on the damned floor_. Are we clear?"

Megamind stares for a moment, then murmurs, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." She closes her eyes and breathes out, needing to reach for him and not being able to, wishing he'd let her touch him, trying to calm back down. The only thing she can think is _stupid. Stupid. How can someone_ so smart _be so stupid_.

"What?" Megamind says, quiet. He still hasn't moved away. "You want something."

 _I want to hug you reach out my head on your shoulder my hands on your back_. She shakes her head. "I don't want anything you're not willing to give."

There's a pause. Then Megamind says, "Tell me anyway."

"Just…" She sighs. "Don't…do stuff that puts your life at risk. Please. I need you to not do that."

"Why?"

"Because amazing people aren't allowed to risk their lives for stupid reasons," she snaps. "Okay?"

Megamind doesn't say anything to that for a long time, but it doesn't sound like he's stepping back at all. He's just standing there. Finally, Roxanne opens her eyes, finds him studying her face and looking almost as tired as he'd looked the night she'd found him in the rain behind the cafe.

"I should have come to you to begin with," he says.

"Well, now you know," Roxanne says, and manages a small smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "For next time."

Something breaks in Megamind's expression. "If there's a next time," he says, "you won't be there."

With that, he turns away and slings the duffel bag of groceries over his shoulder before leaping to grab the edge of the storm drain and haul himself up. Once on solid ground, he turns and pulls Roxanne up after him, lifting her without protest.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 _After a while, he ventures back into shallower waters. At first, he still spends most of his time below the thermocline, but the big fish he'd passed on his descent give him food for thought; they're many times longer than he is and he could eat for a week on one of them. But they're far bigger than he can tackle with only his teeth and they're covered in odd, bony plates that he isn't sure even his jaws can crush. He watches them swim overhead as he plots their demise, spending more and more time above the thermocline, where the water is still sun-warmed in late summer._

 _Eventually he swims near shore and starts amassing lures, moving water-heavy driftwood, twisting weeds, and piling rocks. These are his resources. He understands them, and he understands leverage, and he works out a sort of deep-water deadfall that crushes one of the smaller sturgeon after only a week or so of waiting._

 _He tears into it with all his strength. He was right; the sturgeon does feed him for a week—and of course he'd been right; the sturgeon are a resource and he understands them. He spends the week not worrying about food. Instead, he works on piling stones further down, forming a rough almost-circle, a wall, while he picks the sturgeon clean._

 _He arranges the sturgeon's bones around the top of it, forming a rough roof._ Yurt _, he thinks, but it takes him a while to fully remember what that is and he can't quite bring his tongue into position to get the word out. It doesn't matter; there's no one to listen anymore._

 _When winter comes and the sturgeon move south, there are smaller fish, round like little bullets, and there are lots of them—they stay mostly still, and they're easy prey. He doesn't mind the cold that much._

 _Several full moons into his solitude, with spring on the rise, a boat anchors near his yurt. Curious, he swims higher. Can he use this? The anchor, the chain? The boat's shadow? He hears voices humming through the hull and freezes—remembers the singing undercurrent behind his thoughts, remembers—for a moment—what he'd lost—everything, all of it, he'd been trying not to think of it—had succeeded for nearly a whole month—_

 _He pulls away from the boat and retreats down the anchor chain, clicking in his throat, fins drooping, and he presses himself hard into the stones of his shelter, gives himself to cold and dark, aching in his bones and heart._


	5. Chapter 5

Judas _Priest_ this is a long one. But there are only three scenes? But they were long-ish. I'm falling back into my old ways. XD And holy _wow_ I don't think I've ever managed to pack this much pseudoscience into one chapter before.

Oh, and if any of you have issues with alcohol or scenes where characters are drunk, maybe skip the middle scene. Just ctrl+F 0-0-0 when you get there and hit Enter; you should skip to the final scene in the chapter.

I don't own anything, but I love you guys!

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 5**

 **And so it Goes – Billy Joel**

Saturday and most of Sunday pass in awkward semi-silence. But Sunday night around eleven o'clock, Roxanne is working at the kitchen table, researching, thinking Megamind is already asleep when he says, very close behind her, "You should go to bed."

She yips and nearly falls out of her chair, then lapses into breathless laughter. "I didn't hear you get up," she exclaims, pressing a hand to her chest and panting through the adrenaline. "You scared me."

Megamind just looks at her, his green eyes luminous in the semi-darkness, and doesn't say anything. It's his usual response, but Roxanne isn't sure she'll ever get used to it. His silence is even more unnerving after how talkative he'd been on Friday's 'shopping' trip.

She swallows. "Am I keeping you awake?" she asks.

His gaze slides sideways for a moment, but he shakes his head.

 _What does_ _that_ _mean?_ Roxanne wonders. _No, but yes? Yes, but no?_ She's already learned that telling him to use his words doesn't yield any results, and she's learning to ignore the things she doesn't understand rather than try and interpret them. "Look, I'll go to bed soon," she says. "There's just…I've been really behind with everything going on so I haven't had time, but I've been meaning to look into two-be—"

"Are you hungry?" he interrupts.

She blinks. "I could eat," she says slowly.

"I'll grill you a cheese," he tells her, and moves silently into the kitchen, already slipping his gloves off as he goes to take the frying pan out of its cupboard. These days, the only time Roxanne sees him bare-handed is when he's doing something in the kitchen. She can't believe the gloves held up as well as they did on Friday; it looks like Dave at the leather apparel shop knows what he's doing.

His phrasing is off, of course— _grill me a cheese?—_ and Roxanne can't help her quiet chuckle as she turns back to her computer, hoping it will hide the fact that she's thinking again that she'd give just about anything to have the old Megamind back, the one who laughs. What would he have been like as a roommate?

Honestly, she'd give just about anything to have _Minion_ back. She'd always liked Minion.

A chipped plate clinks on the counter next to her arm a few minutes later, and then Megamind slides into the chair next to hers. He'd 'grilled a cheese' for himself, too, and he eats one-handed—his other hand has its glove back on.

Roxanne still isn't sure what the whole story is behind the gloves. For now, she's assuming it's a comfort thing.

They eat in silence for a while, and then she says, "Seriously, how are you doing?"

Megamind pauses, puts his sandwich down. Looks at his plate. Breathes. "I think…I'm not good at being alone," he says, and there's a pause, but it doesn't look like anything more is forthcoming. After a few seconds, he picks up his sandwich again and resumes eating, resumes staring into the middle distance.

Roxanne nods slowly. "My sister died when I was a kid," she says. The words are hard. They've never gotten much easier, even though it's been so many years. "She was riding her bike. Her new bike. And there was a car." She presses her lips together, then glances over—and finds Megamind is looking at her. His expression is inscrutable, but he's looking, at least.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"Yes," Roxanne agrees. "Thanks."

There's a long, awkward pause, and then Megamind says, in his odd, stiff way, "Is this the point at which someone normal would reach out?"

Roxanne can't help but smile as she nods. And, to her surprise, Megamind pats her shoulder very quickly before dropping his hand back onto the counter and flexing his gloved fingers, clearly feeling strange. Then he returns to polishing off the last of his sandwich, which was already mostly gone.

Roxanne bumps him with her elbow and he looks at her again, one eyebrow cocked in a silent question. He's not sure what that meant. Does she want to be left alone? But she's looking at him with a little smile, looking expectant. After a moment she bumps him again, a little harder, and raises her eyebrows back at him. Tentatively, Megamind moves his arm and nudges her, the same way, and she grins, and then something clicks in his head and he bumps again and _pushes_ , and she pushes back, smiling now, and then they're both shoving each other and scrabbling at the countertop for leverage, trying to keep from pushing so hard they slide off their own chairs.

Roxanne loses the battle and crashes to her butt on the floor with a little scream followed by some sleepy giggles, and to her surprise, Megamind appears at her side a second later and he's actually grinning.

"You're fun," he declares, snapping his other glove around his wrist and wiggling his fingers to settle the leather. For a moment, he sounds like he used to. Playful and careless.

"I try," Roxanne replies, grinning. The kitchen floor is not a place she ordinarily wants to spend much time, since she's never been as good about cleaning it as she thinks she should be. It tends to be sticky. But it hasn't been sticky in a few weeks, and as she glances around and notices that it's much cleaner than she's seen it in a long time, she realizes—this is yet another thing Megamind has taken care of for her.

She frowns. He's perceptive, all right, but he'd been like that even in the beginning of his stay with her, before he'd started opening up. He'd known things that weren't on her little chore lists, folded towels the right way without having to be shown…and yeah, it's just towels and Megamind is a genius, but he'd never seemed to have much common sense before all this. On top of that, lately he's even shown a startling ability to guess what Roxanne is feeling like for dinner even before she comes home; he's started to have things ready for her when she walks in the door. It's nice and she's grateful, but it's unsettling. Doubly so because he still seems to get lost in his head, a lot; perceptiveness should run counter to that. Shouldn't it?

Suddenly worried, Roxanne presses her lips together and swallows. "Can I ask you something?" she says, and then, at Megamind's wary nod, she continues, "If you could read my mind—like, _actually_ read my mind and, and hear what I'm thinking—you'd tell me, right?"

There's a startled pause, and then Megamind says, "Of course I would. That…that would…" He pauses. "It would be a violation of your privacy."

"When would you tell me?" Roxanne presses, but he seems to lock up at that one. That's fair, it was a loaded question, so she sighs and asks, "Megamind, _can_ you read my mind?"

"No," is the low reply.

"Will you ever be able to read my mind?"

"I don't…I don't know."

She peers at him in the gloomy light. "What's that face? Uncertain?"

He studies the middle distance for a moment, eyes unfocused. "Also…doubtful? Dubious? I never—I couldn't—not with Minion, and—"

Well, that's as good as it's going to get. Roxanne pats the floor next to his hand and he stops trying to talk. "We'll assume 'no,' then, okay? Thanks," she adds, "that's…that's a relief to hear." She shakes her head and doesn't notice Megamind's audible worried gulp, doesn't notice how he's watching her, because all her focus now is on whether she should tell him what she was researching when he'd found her earlier, before she'd minimized the web browser. If he's not psychic, it should be safe—there are still all the little coincidences to consider, but as long as Megamind isn't reading her thoughts, it must be okay. Whatever's going on with him must be on a more fundamental level.

She'll figure it out. For now, it's not worth pushing him further. She looks over at him and changes the subject. "Do you want a bedroom?"

He blinks at her, looking almost as stunned as he had the first night when she'd told him he could stay. "I…you don't _have_ a spare…"

She shrugs. "Not yet, but I could. I'm thinking about moving, maybe getting a two-bedroom place. It wouldn't be as nice as this unless you managed an income, too," she says this part slowly, unsure of how he'll respond, "but if we stay outside the heart of downtown, the property values are much cheaper."

Megamind stares at her. "I," he says. "You couldn't… _me_ ," he tells her, all flustered bewilderment. "You…want to live with me? Really live with me?"

Roxanne shrugs. "It's nice having a roommate," she says simply. "I didn't realize how much I'd enjoy it. I like having you around. And, like you said, you don't do so hot when you're alone, and…we get along okay so far. When I'm not yelling at you in sewers." He doesn't react to the lighthearted jab, but she grins and adds, "And you're not psychic, so it's not like you'd be 'violating my privacy' any more than you do already," making air quotes with her fingers as she paraphrases his earlier comment.

Megamind blinks again, then looks quickly away. "I'm not like this," he mutters. "Most of the time. This isn't really me."

She bumps him again, trying to bring him back to playful, keep things as light as possible. "Does 'really you' still make grilled cheeses in the middle of the night?"

He swallows. "I have odd hours. I'm. Loud. Obnoxious. You don't like real me."

"I'll be the judge of that," she says.

"No," he insists, and looks startled to be doing it, "you don't get it. I'm not _like this_. Quiet and…quiet. This me is…this me is broken," he says flatly, "and…and weird—and I'm glad you like _broken weird_ Megamind but you wouldn't like _me_ , so don't…change anything just yet," and he shakes his head hard, emphatic.

She recoils. "You're not broken," she starts to say, but Megamind shakes his head even harder.

"Yes. I am. Because Minion, because what Minion is, he's…he was part of me, our minds w-were…fused, somewhere," Megamind says, forcing the past tense and only paling a little bit. "There was a _link_ there, so you _can't_ …a piece of my mind is gone now. It's broken now, it _is_. And y-you're changing it, but it won't ever be like it was. _I_ won't ever be like I was." He clenches his jaw, clenches both fists in his lap, clenches his whole body around pain and stubborn pride. "S-so don't…don't tell me I'm not broken. Don't tell me you know me and you 'like' me. Because you don't."

But he doesn't get up and walk away, even though this is definitely the perfect time to do it. He could just stand up and leave, and Roxanne might even let him go without pushing the issue, but instead, Megamind stays where he is: half-under the edge of the island with his back to the plasterboard wall, staring at his fists and scowling.

Roxanne watches him for a few moments, stunned. So, it's not just grief, then; Megamind is actually changing, he had something burn out of his mind and go dark. Of course he'd feel differently now. Maybe that's why he has such a hard time forming whole sentences sometimes?

And what was that about her changing it?

Ah. He's not consciously psychic, but he _is_ accustomed to being part of a mind-to-mind bond. That…could explain a lot. Well, that's fine; Roxanne can think about that possibility later.

Either way, right now, she doesn't think losing Minion is the only reason he's reacting this way to her offer of finding him a space of his own. "Megamind, exactly how much of this is just you being scared that you're a person that someone other than Minion might actually like and want to hang around with?"

That's when he shoves himself to his feet and stalks off.

She can't really blame him.

Interestingly, though, he doesn't leave the apartment. She's braced to hear the door slam, but all she hears is the groan of a bed frame that's not very good at supporting a futon mattress. Megamind may be prickly, but what Roxanne is taking away from all this is that he'll stay as long as she'll let him.

And why _shouldn't_ she let him? It's always been clear that he needs a place to stay, but it's becoming increasingly clear that he needs someplace long-term, and Roxanne doesn't mind. It's nice to have the company, even though the circumstances are undeniably tragic. And if they do move to a two-bedroom place and Megamind winds up leaving, Roxanne can always rent out the extra room to somebody else. Or have an office, or a real guest room. It's not _just_ for him. She's thought about it before all this even started; maybe all she'd needed was a push.

Really frowning now, she stands up and puts on her shoes. It's late—at this point, it's past midnight—but she needs another opinion. It's time to bring in the big guns.

"I'll be back later," she says as she opens the door to go out. "I'll try not to wake you up."

Megamind doesn't answer, but then, he rarely does.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roxanne doesn't call Wayne until she's on the street, but all she needs to say when he answers his phone is, "I gotta talk to you about Megamind," and he's at her side.

"What?" he demands. "Where is he? Is he gone again? What's going on?"

Roxanne sighs and puts her cell phone away. "No, he's fine, just…can we go flying? I really need some wind in my face."

Wayne frowns at her for a moment, then shrugs. "Sure, c'mon up. But if you think we're not talking while we fly, you've got another think coming. Hup!" He tosses her onto his shoulders so she sits behind his head like a toddler. He holds onto her ankles as he takes off, which doesn't help the analogy any.

Once they're airborne, he lets go. "Okay. Spill."

Roxanne tips her head back and shuts her eyes, air rushing in her ears and whipping her hair back from her face. "So, you know about Minion."

"Yeah, the disruptor-gun. Holy crab balls," Wayne replies, but he sounds more resigned than anything else. "Is he doing any better?"

"I don't know." She sighs again, stretches her arms out airplane-style as Wayne goes into a shallow dive. "He's a little out of his head right now, I think, but…he's _getting_ better. Slowly. He talks more, now."

Wayne is quiet for a long minute before he says, "He's still staying with you, then."

Roxanne nods. "Yeah. Sorry I didn't call to meet up sooner, I just…"

Wayne shakes his head. "No, it's okay, I get it. And I been busy anyway. But wow." He pauses, still hurtling down towards the dark lake. "You feel okay with that? He did kidnap you. A lot."

"He's been weird," Roxanne says. "Really withdrawn. Not like he was, of course; he wouldn't be."

"Not after Minion," Wayne agrees, sounding troubled.

"And apparently, they had…some kind of brain thing, I don't know specifics," Roxanne says. "A connection. He's been dealing with that, too." She doesn't want to dwell on that for too long, she needs some time to process that on her own. "But even back before all this, I mean, he was…respectful."

That earns a snort. "He was a supervillain."

"Yeah, but he tried, you know that. _You_ helped me see that, so don't start."

"I guess so."

"And he's the only supervillain I know who I can punch in the jaw with no repercussions," Roxanne adds, eliciting a startled bark of laughter from her friend.

"You _what?_ " Wayne says, still half-laughing. "When was this? I don't remember this."

"Just this past week. He woke me up from a bad dream," she tells him. "He startled me and I socked him. Not hard, I mean, I was still mostly asleep, but…"

"But you've got a mean right hook." Wayne shakes his head. "He didn't do anything?"

She shrugs. "Nope, he said it was fine and it was his fault for scaring me."

Wayne rolls his eyes. "Huh. Some villain _he_ is," he mutters, then returns to the matter at hand. "So…you think he's gonna be okay?"

Roxanne shrugs. "As okay as he can be, under the circumstances. Actually, I wanted to ask you if _you_ think it's okay that I'm starting to really think about getting a two-bedroom apartment."

Wayne pulls out of his dive, grabs Roxanne's ankles again to hold her in place, and spins into a series of liquid barrel rolls that leave her breathless before arcing back up towards what he thinks of as cruising altitude. Roxanne knows it's coming—when he holds onto her feet it usually only means one thing—but she still has both hands twisted in his hair when they level out. Then she bops him on the head with a fist. "If you need time to think of a response, just say so, you don't have to make me dizzy," she grouses. "But…what do you think?"

"I think he needs support from someone, and we both know he won't take it from me," Wayne says seriously, leveling off. "But he's got issues, Roxie. Deep, deep issues with how he relates to people. A lot of that's my fault, but…are you sure you want to get tangled up in his problems?"

Roxanne groans. She hadn't wanted him to second-guess her on that, she only wanted his input on her idea. She knows Megamind has issues, but so does everyone, to some degree; issues don't make somebody a problem. And… "I'm already pretty tangled," she admits, thinking of what Megamind had said in the drain, thinking of the way he seems to be improving, thinking of his link with Minion and how that might relate to the way he's getting disturbingly good at figuring out what Roxanne wants done, "but I don't mind. Really, I'd rather it be me than anyone else."

The realization that that's actually true strikes her as the words leave her mouth. Somebody else might hurt him, might not care about understanding, might not be willing to let him stay.

Wayne nods slowly. "Honestly, I think you're the one person he's most likely to trust, just 'cause of how long he's known you. Do you want…y'know, uh. Financial help?" He sounds almost tentative now, twisting his head to try and look over his shoulder at her. The angle's all wrong and it doesn't quite work, but he tries.

It'd be nice, but… "That's okay." Roxanne shakes her head, then keeps shaking it because of how the motion makes her hair move in the constant wind. "No, I'm…I'm good, if I need help, I'll ask. Can I free-fall?"

"Only if you promise not to try and dodge me, like last time," Wayne grumbles. "Hold on, lemme get a bit higher first."

"I wasn't trying to dodge you; there was a pigeon, I told you."

"Liar. I can't just catch you, you know; I gotta allow time for deceleration. If you don't want a parachute, you play by my rules, got it?"

Roxanne rolls her eyes. "I know, I know."

This far over the lake and this high up, everything is quiet. Metro Man rolls over and Roxanne flips onto her stomach and falls silently, her arms out, her fingers grasping at the wind and clouds. She'd kill to be able to do something other than plummet—even just gliding would be something; she doesn't need to fly _—_ but that's not in the cards for her. She's not the star of this show; she's not the one with powers or superhuman intelligence. She's just the watcher.

She unzips her jacket and grabs its flapping corners, holds it tightly open and tilts her body a little bit, banking awkwardly left. There's a ship below her, its lights getting closer. This is right about when Wayne should show up again…

He rolls into view almost as soon as she thinks it. "You're getting better at that," he says, matching her speed and reaching out with both hands. "Wanna hit the water?"

"Yeah," Roxanne says, and his huge hands close around her forearms so he can put on the brakes as she grips his wrists with her fingers. It's only a few seconds before she's hanging vertically; she can't recline in the air without the speed of falling buoying her up.

She's facing backwards as they approach the water, Wayne now flying forward and down instead of just _down_ , but when they get close he rolls suddenly and tosses her high. Roxanne keeps her legs together and pulls her arms to her chest as she spins, only to throw them out to her sides again when Wayne catches her by the waist half an arm's length above the waves. The air this close to the water is miraculously free of turbulence.

"You're a natural in the air," he says. "Seriously, I'm amazed how comfortable you are with all this…flying and super-stuff. Not to mention alien fish disappearing into thin air."

"I've always been okay with weird," Roxanne replies, starting to shiver. Summer or not, the nights are cool here and the wind over the lake is always pretty strong. "It doesn't hold any pretenses. Normal stuff _gets_ weird, but when stuff is already weird, you know where you stand."

He snorts. "You saying weird is predictable? Bit of an oxymoron."

"I'm saying it's dependable."

They turn and head back towards the noise and light of the city, Metro Man shaking his head and Roxanne dipping her fingers into the cool waves in spite of the chill. "But then again," she says quietly, watching the looming skyline grow in her field of view, "maybe they're the same thing."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She goes back up to her apartment and unlocks the door as quietly as she can, expecting Megamind to be asleep—but she's surprised to see him sitting on the couch in the dark, his eyes reflecting the glow of the hallway lights like a cat's. "Megamind?" She pauses just inside the doorway. "Everything okay?"

"I'm," he says haltingly. He sounds almost confused, halfway frightened if Roxanne didn't know better. Vastly uncertain, that's for sure. He tries again, fragments of sentences dancing around what he's trying to say. "I shouldn't. I snapped at you. That was wrong."

She steps fully inside, reaches for the light as the door closes behind her, but stops when sees Megamind shake his head. In the dark, then.

Sometimes it's easier when you can't see faces.

"I get it, though," she says, cautious. "Why you'd be upset. I remember how you were, back when…when you were on top of your game. But I only saw one side of you and you're _not_ just some cackling supervillain; there's more to you than that, I know there is."

It's like he hasn't even heard her. "You've done a lot for me. So much. And. You keep doing more. For…me? I don't…I don't really know where to go with that." He presses his hands to the couch on either side of his legs, his fingers splayed. "I don't know what you want. From me. In exchange."

Roxanne flops into her armchair, suddenly exhausted. This again. This business about _exchange_. "I don't want anything from you, Megs. I'm not doing this for favors. I like the company. And it's not just because of you," she adds. "Even if you moved out, I'd still need a bigger place eventually." She rubs her eyes, remembering how he'd been about the gloves. "I should've phrased it differently earlier," she mumbles. "Should've thought how it would sound to you."

He stares at her. "You. Don't want _anything?_ " He sounds totally baffled by the concept.

She shrugs. "Do you have an income?" she asks.

Megamind fidgets. "I can get money."

"Do you have money coming in?" she presses. "Legally?"

"N-no. But I have money. I can give you money." He's starting to sound relieved, which strikes her as odd. "How much…how much is rent?"

She tells him. His eyes nearly fall out of his head. "But you don't even _own_ the place!" he exclaims, shocked into a full sentence, free of stumbles. "You're paying that much and you aren't even building any eeequity?"

Roxanne lips twitch. Now, _that_ sounded like the old Megamind. "No," she confesses. "I used to worry about that, but…I figured I didn't really need a house if I have this place. It's close to my office, it's close to everything."

"I could buy you a condo," Megamind tells her. "One of the nice ones. Outright."

She tilts her head. "Where do you get money?"

He shoots her a _look_ that Roxanne recognizes even in the dark. Eyebrow cocked, eyelids lowered, almost smirking. "Please. I'm a genius who builds things. I buy stuff, I build stuff, I sell stuff."

"You're living off your savings right now, though," she points out, and his half-conceived smirk shatters. "I don't want to jeopardize your long-term plans."

"I don't have long-term plans," he says flatly. "Not anymore."

"Sorry." She's not even sure what she's apologizing for, but it still feels like the right thing to do. "We don't have to talk about this now. We have time, we'll figure it out." She pauses, thinking, _we could go back to the Lair_ , but she knows better than to suggest that. Feeling awkward, she rubs her fingertips against the fabric of the armchair. "…How much space would you need for a…a workshop-type area?"

Megamind blinks at her, then does that sideways look with his eyes again. Even in the dark, she can tell; his whole head tilts a certain way when he does it. "That's probably not a good plan," he says. "Don't worry about that. Not in the city."

 _Not in the city_ … Her eyes narrow. "You mean, it'd have to be outside the city? In case something exploded, or…"

He nods. Fidgets.

"Talk to me, Spaceman, or I won't know what to do."

Deep breath. "Don't pick your location based on me," he says. "If…if I do start again…the size requirements would be…unrealistic. For you. So don't. Please?"

Roxanne watches him as best she can in the darkness, then shrugs. "Okay. That seems reasonable," she says. Then she stands up. "And now I'm going to sleep for a while. I gotta be up in three hours and tomorrow's going to suck."

Megamind nods and rises as well, but he doesn't say anything until Roxanne is almost to her bedroom. Then he startles her with, "Roxanne?"

She turns. For a moment, in the light coming through her glass doors, Megamind looks like he's about to say something important or take a step forward, but then his gaze slips away and he slumps a little. "S-sleep well."

"You too," Roxanne says with a little smile. He'll tell her when he's ready.

In the morning, she wakes to a text from Metro Man. _Didn't get a chance to say anything tonight but I've been at the lair. Something weird about that gun. Need to talk to you when you're awake. Lunch tomorrow?_

Roxanne shakes her head. 'Something weird,' he says, but he won't say what. Once again, not helpful. _Tuesday_ , she texts. _I'm swamped today_.

How would _he_ know there's anything weird going on?

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She gets home late that evening and finds all the lights off. Thinking Megamind is out somewhere, she turns them on and heads for her room to get changed. It's only when she comes back out and starts throwing something together for dinner that she hears a soft scuffle from behind Megamind's screen.

Crap. Was he sleeping when she came in? Did she wake him up? But it's not _that_ late, only about nine or so; he never goes to bed this early. Worried, Roxanne approaches his privacy screen and pokes her head around it. Yep, there's Megamind—wearing her sweater and sitting up in bed, the covers pooled around his waist, his forehead in his hands.

"Hey," she says, startled and stepping fully around the screen. "Why are you in bed? Are you sick?" She starts to step forward but her foot hits something that clinks and she glances down at an empty bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass tumbler. Part of her registers amusement that it's Tennessee Honey, because of course it _would_ be sweet, but most of her is just alarmed and confused as she looks back up at the alien. "Are you _drunk?_ " That's a new one.

Megamind groans and slumps farther forward. "Not drunk enough," he mumbles, and Roxanne sees the second bottle, not empty but mostly finished, sitting on the end table she'd lent him for a nightstand. She can't remember the last time she drank any whiskey, herself, but she knows she'd had some around. Both of the bottles must have started out at least mostly full. God, how much does he weigh? How often does he drink? She's never seen him have alcohol in all the time he's been living with her, and she's never smelled it on him—he must be out of practice. How is he not dead or unconscious right now?

Without another word, she turns and gets her little plastic wastebasket from its place by the couch, dumps its crumpled contents into her kitchen trash, and brings the empty can back over to Megamind's bed. "Here," she says shortly.

He slits an eye open and looks at it. "'Zat for?"

"For you," Roxanne tells him.

"Gee thanks," he replies, "lucky me, a garbage can."

She rolls her eyes. "To throw up in, asshole. Have you vomited at all, yet?"

Megamind blinks up at her, then shutters his expression. "Nah," he says, "'m good like this."

"Megamind, if you don't throw up in the next five minutes, I'm taking you to the emergency room," Roxanne snaps. She puts the bucket in his lap with more force than is probably necessary, but it tips over and rolls off the side of the bed and bounces off her foot as Megamind scowls and starts to lie down. "You just drank almost two whole fifths of whiskey!"

He stops halfway through curling onto his side, then turns and frowns at her like he's trying to figure something out. " _Almost_ two fifths…?" He looks around, sees the bottle on his nightstand, then sneers to himself and reaches for it.

Roxanne snatches it out of his hand and Megamind blinks at her, already glaring as she backs away. "What're you…thazz _mine_ ," he snarls, throwing his covers back and planting both feet on the floor, taking a staggering step forward. "Give it back!"

"No," Roxanne says, now deeply annoyed. "Four minutes and thirty seconds, Megamind. I want fingers in throats. _Now_."

"You're not the _boss_ of me, you're not _Minion_ ," he hisses, and he makes it one more step before the world goes melty and falls out from under him. The former criminal mastermind collapses in a blue heap on the floor. "Bring it back," he mumbles again. "Bring it back. Don't take it away from…"

Roxanne pauses, then squints at him. "Are you singing Queen?"

"Minion," Megamind mutters, shoving himself up on one hand and lifting the other to the back of his massive cranium. "Minion."

"Minion's not here," Roxanne says, as gently as she can considering how upset she is, and she's totally unprepared for Megamind's head to snap up and his eyes to be full of fire.

"I'm aware of _that_ ," he snarls. "He hasn't been here. For a _year_."

 _Oh._ Some of Roxanne's anger ebbs with her confusion. "I see," she murmurs. "So, it's been a year, huh?"

Megamind's glare flinches away from her tight-lipped scrutiny; he can't hold her gaze right now. He aims his stare at the carpet, instead, and Roxanne bites her lip. Lord, there was a time when she dreamed about him curled on the floor at her feet like this. But that time was ages ago, back when he'd first started kidnapping her. She hasn't thought of him that way in years. And she'd never imagined it would actually happen.

Or that he would be wearing her clothes when it did. Or that it would hurt so damn much. "All right, then," she decides. "When did you start drinking today?"

"Seven," Megamind says, sounding sullen.

He drank that much in two hours? What even is his metabolism? "What time did you go to bed?"

"'Bout…ten minutes ago."

"Have you eaten anything today?"

"No."

"If I give you this," Roxanne holds up the bottle, since it's mostly empty anyway, "will you drink some water?"

"Okay."

She drops the bottle by his knee. Megamind just looks at it. He's still just looking at it when Roxanne gets back with a tall glass of water.

"Here." She passes the glass down to him and then withdraws, knowing better than to reach out and offer comfort the way she'd like to. It would feel natural enough to her to offer a hug or backrub or something at this point, but she's already figured out that there must be a better way when Megamind is involved. _If only I could figure out what it_ is.

Megamind drinks half, his adam's apple bobbing in his long throat, before taking a breath and lowering the glass. "You're mad at me," he observes as he exhales.

"Ohhh, Megamind," Roxanne sighs, one hand on her hips and the other massaging the bridge of her nose, "I'm not mad."

"You are, you're mad at me."

"I'm disappointed. That's all." She pauses, then adds, "Drink up," and she's surprised when he follows her instruction and downs the rest of it. "Why didn't you _say_ anything?" she asks as he finishes. "You could have told me what day it was."

His shrug brings his narrow shoulders almost all the way to his ears. "Don' need you worrying 'bout me." Then, incredibly, he snorts. "Bosons know why, but you'd've worried."

"And you think coming home to a plastered roommate _doesn't_ worry me?" Roxanne asks, incredulous. "You're out of your mega-mind, Megamind." Inwardly, she's thinking, _any minute now. Aaany minute now…_

Sure enough, he freezes for a second, the color draining from his face. Then he hauls himself to his feet and staggers across the apartment, heading for the bathroom just off her bedroom.

Shaking her head, Roxanne goes back to her kitchen sink and refills his glass. _Why did it have to be whiskey? He's going to be hungover as hell tomorrow—and talk about headaches!_

The sound of violent retching meets her ears and she sighs, then grabs her phone from her purse and a washcloth from the linen closet before following Megamind into the bathroom. He's on his knees with his face in the toilet, worshiping the porcelain throne, his thin back heaving as another wash of watery alcohol comes up.

Roxanne waits until he lifts his head, then hands him the glass again. "Drink this."

"But I'll be sick," he mumbles, still pale. He's sweating.

"Yeah, and there's a reason for that," Roxanne agrees, reaching past him to flush the toilet. "C'mon, you have to drink water, it's the rules."

He looks at her, dismayed. "It is?"

"I don't make the rules, Megamind."

He groans but slowly drinks the whole glass, then passes it back and settles onto the floor with his back against the wall, one leg curled in front of him and the other drawn against his chest, resting his cheek on his knee with a sigh.

Roxanne sits down on the edge of the tub and looks at him. "You wanna talk about it?" she asks. Megamind doesn't reply right away, so Roxanne turns her attention to her phone, instead. _Something came up_ , she texts Metro Man. _Not going to work tomorrow. Can we talk on my lunch break Wednesday?_

"Won't make a difference," Megamind eventually says, closing his eyes.

Roxanne frowns at him, then calls into the office, dialing her boss's extension to leave him a voicemail. "Hey, Carl, it's Roxanne." She doesn't even need to pretend to sound tired. "I'm really sorry for the short notice, but there's been a family emergency and I need to take a PTO day tomorrow. Call me on my cell if you need me, but otherwise I'll see you Wednesday. Thanks so much for understanding. Bye."

She looks up to find Megamind staring at her, one pupil more dilated than the other, a bewildered expression on his pointed face. "What'd you just do?"

Roxanne's phone pings and she glances down at Wayne's text. _Weds sounds good hope everything's OK_. "I canceled all my stuff tomorrow, I'm staying home."

Megamind blinks, then tilts his head. "But what… _oog_. No." He gets back on his knees, stares down into the toilet bowl, salivating profusely. "Why would you stay home?" he slurs. "You're not th' one who's s-sick-k—" He retches again, throws up water and whiskey, sniffs hard, throws up again.

"Because you're going to be _super_ hungover," Roxanne tells him. He groans. "And…I feel like I should stay with you. For this." She twists and turns the tub faucet on cold for a moment, just long enough to soak the washcloth she'd picked up before. Then she wrings it out halfway and passes it to Megamind. "I wish you'd told me today," she adds. "I would've stayed, or at least tried to come home earlier. Drinking alone is no fun."

He wipes his face slowly, then reaches up to flush the toilet. The deep shadows under his eyes are back. "I miss him," he mumbles. "Feels like I should've moved on by now."

Roxanne shakes her head. "You had a really different relationship with Minion than most people do with their friends," she says. "I imagine it's totally normal for you to still be this upset."

"Does it get easier?"

She hesitates. "It'll always hurt," she finally tells him, "but…after a while, you won't mind carrying it around with you so much."

Megamind nods, his eyes slipping closed again as he leans his head back against the wall. "Minion always took care of me when I was sick," he whispers. "I took care of him, too. My whole life. My whole _life_ , he was…always there for me. He…was…he was my family." He opens his eyes, which are astonishingly dry, but his pupils have contracted to little dots in a way Roxanne has never seen before. "I don't have a family anymore. I don't have a _family_ anymore."

Roxanne's heart clenches. "Megamind…"

"Everything's gone," he mumbles, staring at his long hands. He's not wearing his gloves, and his twig-thin fingers are very blue under the bright lights of Roxanne's bathroom. "M-my family, my planet, m-my star. And now Minion, too."

Roxanne recoils. "Your…wait, your whole planet? What are you talking about?"

Megamind looks up at her, skinny and bald and blue and very, very much alone in this moment. "It's gone," he says with startling clarity. "Crushed. _The Earth will shake in two will break and death all around will be your dowry_."

Queen again, Roxanne realizes, somewhat distantly. He must have been listening to one of her albums earlier. "Megamind, are you serious? Be serious for a sec." Something in his voice is making her blood go cold. "What do you mean about your planet?"

Megamind's tired expression doesn't change. "Our planet is disintrigater'd," he says, detached, and his softly drunken mangling of the word is not funny in the slightest. He lifts one hand, twirls it loosely in the air before dropping it back onto the tile next to his hip. "Our star…collapsed. Minion's people're extinct. Mine, too. Minion's gone. And I'm…" he trails off, his eyes glazing over somewhat. Roxanne stares at him, her heart loud in her ears. He can't be saying what she thinks he's saying, but Megamind just stares up at the ceiling and gives a little shrug. "I'm all that's left."

Roxanne swallows, breathes shakily, lifts her hands and rubs them backwards through her hair. Holy God almighty. He is saying what she thinks he's saying.

She'd had no idea.

Megamind's eyebrows twitch. "'N' I'm a _mess_ ," he continues, slowly pulling his face into a frown. "Last great hope f'r my whole planet an' lookit me, in my victim's bathroom, in my victim's _clothes_. Drunk charity case." He plucks at one of the stars on his sweater, sneering. "I'm th' last one ever an' I'm a fuckin' _disaster_."

"You," Roxanne says in a low voice, "are not a disaster." She swallows. "Megamind, look at me. Look at me right now." She waits until he tips his head back to meets her gaze. "You're _not_ a charity case. And I'm not your victim. That's not who we are." He tilts his head a little, narrowing one eye skeptically, but Roxanne doesn't look away. "That's _not_ who we are," she insists. "I'm your kidnappee, right?"

He nods, and then he winces and blinks a few times, lifting a hand to his forehead. The world is probably still pretty wobbly for him right now, but Roxanne ignores that. "Okay," she says. "Then that makes you _my_ supervillain. Not a disaster, not my charity case. My _supervillain_. Got it?"

Megamind blinks at her, then casts his eyes down and nods again.

"Good," Roxanne says. "Now, does my supervillain think he'll be able to eat something? Maybe some toast?"

Another nod.

"Good," Roxanne says again. "Come on into the kitchen when you're ready. You should drink some more water, too, and I'll make you some sausage, see if you can choke that down." She leaves him to his thoughts, goes to the kitchen on numb feet, throws bread into the toaster, and then leans heavily on the counter as she finally lets her eyes fill.

 _The only one left. His planet is dust, his star scattered…_ She presses a hand to her lips. She'd known he was hurting, but she'd never thought that his pain over Minion might be compounded by something else. And even if she had, she would _never_ have guessed it might be something like that. She can't even fully wrap her head around it. The _only_ one?

Megamind watches her from the door of her room, his unfocused vision cloudy as the room tilts and spins. He hadn't meant to say all that. He hadn't meant to drink so much, either, but after everything that was roiling around in his head today…he'd just wanted it to stop. He'd slept for most of the day, but finally he'd woken up and hadn't been able to go back to sleep, so he'd pulled two bottles out of the back of Roxanne's liquor cabinet in the hopes they'd put him back under.

The alcohol hadn't helped as quickly as he'd thought it would, so he'd drunk more, but then he'd felt gross and shaky so he'd gone to bed. But then Roxanne came home and turned the lights on, and he'd felt worse than he'd realized, and…

Wait, is she crying?

She is, she's crying. Why is she crying?

He watches in confusion as Roxanne wipes her eyes, blows her nose, washes her hands. Gets toast out of the toaster. Opens the freezer and pulls out link breakfast sausages and arranges them on a plate to put in the microwave.

Did she say she would be staying home tomorrow? Was that something that happened? She worked late tonight; maybe she's sad because she's busy at work but he's keeping her home.

No. That's stupid. She'd already said she was disappointed with him; probably that's what has her upset. Maybe he should have told her this morning. Maybe today would have been better if he could have shared with someone. Maybe then she wouldn't be disappointed.

She doesn't need that, though. She's dealing with enough of his problems already.

Megamind swallows and walks to his usual chair at the kitchen island, only weaving a little bit even though the world is still rocking dangerously around him. Roxanne slides him a plate of toast. "Here," she says, only sounding a little bit stuffy. "Eat. You probably don't feel like it, but it'll help. Take small bites and chew slowly."

"Why are you sad?" Megamind asks, picking up his toast and biting into it.

Roxanne stares at him. He stares back, chewing. Eventually she says, "I'm sad because you're sad."

"Oh." His brow furrows. "That's a dumb reason."

"And I'm sad because I just learned there was a whole world full of people who are dead now," Roxanne continues, her voice shaking. "I just learned that you and Minion were the only two left, and now you're the last one. I just learned that, when you're gone, there won't be any more amazing blue people ever again.

"And I miss Minion, too, Megamind. I miss him. And I miss seeing you laugh. I miss you calling me nosy and…and dancing all over the place. I miss your crazy inventions and I miss the brainbots." _And I'm sorry I ever wanted you hurt_. She hugs her arms against her chest and sniffs, blinking hard. "I miss Minion calling me 'Miss Ritchi' and telling me stuff that pissed you off. I miss…I miss knowing Minion would always catch me when I passed out from the spray."

Megamind continues to stare at her, but he's stopped chewing.

The microwave beeps. "And I don't miss him like you do, I know, I _know_ ," Roxanne says, tears running down her face now. "But I _do_ miss him. And I m-miss the good old days. I wish you'd said something. I wish you'd told me. And I'm s-sorry you're sick." She turns away, fumbling with the microwave, pulling out the now-warm sausages and sniffing again before starting to slide them over to Megamind. "Here. Grease can sometimes help with…huh?"

Megamind has just reached out again, touching her arm. But he's not wearing his gloves this time; he'd taken them off to sleep. Roxanne picks up his hand, turns it over, runs her fingers over his bare palm. The lines there are like her own: two across the middle, one running down around the fleshy base of his thumb. It's not so alien, not so different from hers, but Megamind's fingers are long, each of them at least a full inch longer than Roxanne's. She looks up at him.

Except for his head, every bit of him is long and thin—his limbs, his torso, his neck, his hands. But he's strong the way young trees are strong: unthinkingly, without trying, bending to storms that would break him if he stood against them, standing tall when they pass. And this storm, too, will pass. In time.

In time.

She squeezes his hand, then pushes him the plate of sausages and a fork. "Eat," she whispers, and Megamind nods.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Metro Man stops at the office two days later while Roxanne is eating lunch. He waltzes in like he usually does, no questions asked; he's the hero, after all, but this time he's carrying several rolls of blue paper and has a notebook under one arm. "Hey. Gotta pick your brain."

Roxanne sighs and puts down the newspaper. "Aw, c'mon, now? I was reading the funnies." And the longer she spends at lunch, the later she'll have to work this evening; she'd left her all her notes at home this morning and she's already trying to figure out when she'll have time to swing back by the apartment to get them later this afternoon.

She says nothing about why she'd stayed home, and Metro Man doesn't ask.

"This is better than funnies. Well," he amends, "maybe better. Maybe nothing. But here, look at this, look at these." He unrolls the blueprints on the break room table and hands Roxanne the notebook. "What do you make of all this?"

She groans, but she _had_ said Wednesday's lunch break would be an okay time to talk, so she sets the newspaper aside and starts trying to figure out what she's looking at. The blueprints are very clearly for some kind of weapon, and Megamind's neat handwriting is unmistakable.

She leans forward, interested in spite of herself. "This is the thing that hit Minion?"

Metro Man nods. "Near as I can tell, yeah."

"Huh." Roxanne thumbs through the sheets, noting dates—they're different drafts, she realizes, different iterations of the same project. Some have parts crossed out and changed in later drafts, notes on why to scrap this or that, notes on what to add. "You checked out the actual gun?" she asks slowly, and catches Wayne's nod out of the corner of her eye. She doesn't look up, though, because she's just noticed that one of the pieces is…unusually fiddly. It's small but there aren't any notes on what it does, which seems strange since Megamind seems pretty clear about labeling everything else. "What's this thing?" she asks, pointing at the little component. "It looks complicated."

Metro Man sends her a pleased smile. "Yeah, I saw that too. Took me a while to find it, but it's in here…" He leafs through the notebook until he finds what he wants, then puts it down to show Roxanne. "Looks like he oiled these pages so they'd be translucent," he says. "See how the layers go?"

She frowns, leaning over. The thing is an engine of some kind with a focal beam. The words _Incorporate into reset button?_ are crossed out several times in a margin. Roxanne focuses on the labels at the bottom of the page, which look more like working titles rather than the catchy names Megamind gives most of his finished devices. "Habilitationsschrift Flux Stabilizer," she murmurs, fumbling the pronunciation a bit. It's not much better than "reset button" in terms of telling her what the thing does, but it's a start. "Minkowski-Hinton Reconciliation? Minkowski…hold on." She fishes out her phone, Googles a couple of terms. Googles some more. This can't be right. It can't be.

She sits back in her chair and stares up at Metro Man. "This is…"

He taps a finger gently against the page. "Whatever this thing is, if it works, it throws stuff backwards in time."

"Backwards," Roxanne repeats, blinking. She'd been thinking it was some kind of time machine, but backwards, specifically? "What makes you say that?"

"'Cause of this." Metro Man leans down and flips to a later page in the notebook, but instead of showing a preliminary sketch, this page is covered in eraser-smudges, coffee stains, and more Greek letters than should be legal on one page when they're interspersed with so many numbers.

It's a calculation, it must be, there's nothing else it _can_ be, but it takes up the whole page except for a graph in one corner that looks like it has four axes—the gentle parabolas represent a ninety-degree rotation, according to Megamind's notes, but Roxanne isn't sure why there are four of them—and something that looks almost like a quilt in the margin. This isn't labeled; Roxanne ignores it as a meaningless doodle. "And…this is…?"

"So, he's using a quaternion numbering system, right?" Metro Man says, stretching out in the air at waist height and leaning his elbows on the table. "Traditional understanding says multiplication of two quaternions—they're like vectors, except not really—multiplication isn't commutative. You know how eight times seven and seven times eight give you the same answer? Yeah, not with these."

"Okay…" Roxanne says, tentatively agreeing. She understands the concept, but as far as what the implications of vectors are, it's like Metro Man is speaking Latin.

"Right. Okay, so it looks like what he's doing is, uh…if I've got this right, he's mathematically transposing or…or _reconciling,_ sort of, the Euclidean understanding of quaternions with a more recent, very _non_ -Euclidean interpretation of four-dimensional space." Metro Man gives her a look that's probably supposed to be meaningful, but the meaning is lost on Roxanne. "He's forcing the commutation. With, like…it's like an Umklapp process, but with a quadrupole ion trap. I've never seen anybody else do it this way." He actually looks excited.

Roxanne shakes her head. "What does that mean? In…in English?"

He wets his lips and shakes his head at himself. "Right, right. Sorry. Uh…so, you can't usually use Euclidean or non-Euclidean however you want. You gotta pick one and stay with it," he explains. "But it looks like that wasn't working for the little guy, so he figured out a way to use vector _and_ scalar quaternions to commute with each other to represent a four-dimensional manifold. That's the Minkowski bit. But the thing is," he continues, flipping further through the notebook, passing pages upon pages of numbers and squiggly symbols, "in Minkowski space, the spacetime interval between events _doesn't depend_ on the inertial reference frame they're recorded in. You with me so far?"

"Not a bit," Roxanne says. "But keep going. As long as it makes sense to you."

"Well, here's the part that _doesn't_ make sense to me. You said Megamind was building a matter disruptor, right? And this could totally be harnessed to disrupt matter."

"Which is why it went into the disruptor-gun," Roxanne says. She can follow that much. "But I'm guessing it doesn't work the way he expected?"

Metro Man nods. "It's all I can think of, really. He seems to get frustrated later on and abandon the reconciliation in favor of a more destructive use, which is more his speed, but…the reconciliation _works_. The engine on its own isn't complete, but the math checks out," he tells her, and Roxanne tilts her head at 'on its own.' The engine _wasn't_ on its own in the gun. Metro Man keeps talking, misinterpreting her questioning glance. "Basically, this…if this works the way I _think_ it does, it doesn't disrupt matter. It transports it. Blinks it along an inertial frame of reference back to somewhere else. Uh, maybe some _when_ else would be a better term? Anyway, the ytterbium in the gun is doing some seriously funky stuff."

Roxanne has to slouch forward and rub at her temples, trying to wrap her head around all that. They'll get to the gun later; for now, she hasn't completely given up on maybe understanding some of what Metro Man is saying. "Wait. Just…why does it have to be _back_ in time? Why not forward?"

"Because according to this, there is no forward. The future doesn't exist outside of pure theory. But the past does exist." Metro Man pulls out a chair, sits down, and leans on the table again, which creaks. "Look, I'm not saying Minion's _alive_ , necessarily. But this…this thing, this reset engine, it's in the finished gun. So maybe it didn't kill Minion. Maybe it sent him back in time."

Roxanne sighs. "Look, even if that's true, we'd never be able to pull him out of whatever universe he's now part of," she says, but Metro Man shakes his head.

"No, that's the other part I don't get. I don't think this math allows for alternate universes—well, not much, anyway, it's not…I'm not totally clear on that part. But I think this whole thing centers around one timeline." He looks at her. "If I'm right, then at some point in the past—in our past _—_ there were two Minions in the Lair."

Roxanne stares at him. That doesn't make sense. "Then why isn't there still one Minion now?" she asks. "If there were two in the past, traveling forward, and one got sent back…wait." She frowns. This is starting to hurt. "He should still be here…right?"

Metro Man shrugs. "I assume it's because our Minion went somewhere else. Or somewhen else. I'm hoping it's because we get him back."

"But you said the future doesn't exist," Roxanne says, trying to make sense of four-dimensional physics and thinking it's probably a lost cause. Shaking her head, she stands up and goes over to the coffee maker for a refill. "How can he come back _here_ …to _now_ …if the future we get him back in doesn't exist yet?" Coffee in hand, she turns around and leans against the counter, frowning at Metro Man. "How can he travel into _this_ future if it doesn't exist for him, in the past, yet?"

Metro Man shrugs his massive shoulders. "I don't think I can explain it very well, but…it boils down to us pulling him forward. He's not traveling to the future; we're pulling him here from the past, bringing him here along a single reference frame via a series of cascading Einstein-Rosen bridges." He holds up Megamind's calculation and taps a finger on the quilt doodle. "That's what this is."

"Wait," Roxanne says, straightening up so quickly she nearly spills coffee down her front. "Wait, I know about those. That won't work. An Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting two parts of the same universe is unstable because of…um…" She snaps her fingers a couple times, trying to dredge up the memory of a long-ago elective on the science of science fiction. "Because of torsion. Because there's not enough linkage between the…the thing and the other thing. You could make a bridge, but Minion couldn't get through it because the spin-spin interaction is…um…I don't know. Broken. Or something."

Metro Man snorts. "It's okay, I get what you're saying. And you'd be right, if we were talking about a single bridge, but we'd be using a series of them."

"I…" Roxanne starts to say, but then she shakes her head. "Never mind. The important thing is he's alive."

"Maybe," Metro Man corrects her. "He _may_ be alive. I could be totally wrong about all this—wouldn't Megamind have found this already? He must've been frantic."

Roxanne thinks about it, gazing at the blueprints, the notebook. "No," she says slowly. "No, it looks like he thought the reset button or whatever it is didn't work…I bet you were right about it having a different role in the matter disruptor. Something else must have made it work the way he'd originally meant it to." She's quiet for a moment. It does seem far-fetched, but Metro Man had said the math checks out even though the reset button wasn't completed. If something in the gun _did_ complete the reset button, or took over whatever functions were missing…

It could work.

"Hmm," Metro Man says, leaning back over the blueprints. The most recent one is on top, and after a long minute, he taps a separate component, a spiky-looking triangle riddled through with wires. "I think this is probably what would've made it work. It's some kind of converter, and if I'm following these plans right, when it gets paired with the Minkowski-Hilton Reconciliation device, one of two things will happen.

"Either the Minkowski thingy pulls energy from outside time to induce a catastrophic shift in the target's state of matter—which is what _should_ have happened—or together they would've preserved the interval of spacetime equipped with the non-positive definite bilinear form appropriate to Minkowski space, stabilizing the resulting series of Einstein-Rosen bridges, and expressing them in three-dimensional space. And that's what I think actually did happen, 'cause of the indefinite integral of the central arctangent. Right?"

Roxanne stares at him in absolute confusion. Those words were English, she's pretty sure, but… "Wayne, seriously? Since when are you into all this…" She waves for a moment, inarticulate and frustrated. "This four-dimensional crap? Time dilation and everything?"

He grins at her and sits back in his chair a little, looking pleased with himself. "I _did_ navigate interstellar space at faster-than-light speeds when I was only eighteen of months old," he points out. He sounds smug, but Roxanne figures he's entitled. "And I'm physically capable of hyper-accelerating myself into an approximate time-stop. I know how that works. I'm not a genius, but I'm not stupid, Roxie."

"You're smarter than _me_ ," she mutters.

"No, I'm not. I just have different developmental capabilities—I was born with this stuff in my head, and then I learned the words for it, that's all. It's what I am, it's…part of me. But this…" He looks down at the blueprints, the notebook, Megamind's pile of impossible calculations, and slowly shakes his head. "This," he says, and he taps his fingertips on the notebook a few times for emphasis, "this is amazing. The math alone is…nothing I've ever seen written down. But on top of that, I don't know how he could see where to even _begin_ to build something to express these calculations in three-dimensional space. It's…it's beautiful stuff, Roxie. It really is."

Then he looks up at her, his brow suddenly furrowing. "So…with all this in mind, what do we do about it?"

Roxanne gazes at him for a minute, thinking of Megamind sitting at home, doing whatever he does while she's gone. Thinks of him staring at nothing, making sandwiches for the two of them in the middle of the night, fixing her sink and her freezer, and his tinkering with the electromagnet, spreading its parts all over her rug.

Thinks of him quietly joining her on the sofa sometimes when she watches television and actually chuckling at some of the humor, thinks of him dozing off with his sharp chin on his knees, thinks of him reading his way through her bookshelves. Thinks of the circled classified ads for rentals from the newspaper she'd found on her counter that morning. Thinks of the light starting to come back into his eyes. Thinks that she might, possibly, be coming to think of him as more than a friend.

Thinks of him drinking himself half to death, missing his friend. Thinks of him having to live the rest of his life without his Minion.

She looks up at Metro Man. "What else can we do?" she says, determined. "We _fix_ it."

Metro Man grins.


	6. Chapter 6

A longish one, but…it really does _need_ to be longish. You'll see. Another few mentions of alcohol, but nobody drinks to excess, so…maybe be aware of that.

I love you guys! My readers are the best readers, and anybody who thinks they've got better readers can fight me.

(Naw, I'm just kidding. We'll get coffee and see if we can get our readers to read each other's stuff. No fighting. ^^)

I don't own Megamind and all thoughts about monkeys (c) Disney.

On with the show!

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 6**

 **Stand By You – Rachel Platten**

Her head is still spinning when she has Hal bring her by her apartment on their way back to the office from a bank robbery-slash-hostage situation later that day. Metro Man had agreed with Roxanne that they shouldn't say anything to Megamind about their theory until they're sure, but just because it was her idea to begin with doesn't mean the secret sits well with her. It doesn't sit well with her at all. Minion is alive, or might be, and part of her feels like Megamind should be told immediately.

The rest of her—most of her—isn't so sure. There is the possibility that it's a false hope. Which. Might be worse than giving him no hope at all.

She's still lost in thought when she absently invites Hal inside with her while she retrieves her notes and tablet, but his enthusiastic agreement pulls her into the present somewhat. Okay, maybe that wasn't such a great idea, but Roxanne doesn't want to believe it's an outright _bad_ idea; she wants to go on believing that Hal, while weird, is a harmless sort of weird and not the sort that, given an inch, will take a mile. He's nice enough.

Well, she can't say she's changed her mind about inviting him in without it seeming weird, and besides, this will only take thirty seconds. It'll be fine. She unlocks the door, talking loudly to Hal in the hall and hoping that this is still the time of day that Megamind is usually in the shower.

She's right about the shower; the bathroom fan is rattling away. But it turns out she's dead wrong about the Hal end of things.

Apparently, Hal is exactly the sort of weird that conflates being invited inside with being invited to do things like _touch_ , and he doesn't understand that the two aren't in any way related, and somehow this all winds up with Roxanne on one side of the kitchen island and Hal on the other, circling each other, his honest face open and confused as he goes, "Roxie, c'mon, it's just _me_ , I mean, _you said_ I could come in…"

And Roxanne, who is three hundred percent _not_ okay with feeling anyone's hands on her hips when she's just popped inside to grab the folder she'd left on the coffee table, is protesting, "I said you could come in for a second while I picked up my tablet and my paperwork!" and not really understanding why she's on the defensive—she should be shouting Hal out of her apartment, shouldn't she? But she has to work with him; he's her cameraman. And she does know him, but also _no_ with a side of _very much not_.

This is when Megamind opens the door to her bedroom and steps out. There's no way he could have anticipated she'd be home; the fan in Roxanne's bathroom is loud and she knows immediately that he hasn't heard any of what's just happened. The big tipoff isn't actually his "I'm frozen!" face; it's the fact that he's wearing his fluffy purple towel around his waist and absolutely nothing else.

His gaze flicks to Hal, who still has his hands out in supplication even as he stares at Megamind in stunned silence, and then to Roxanne, who has both _her_ hands flat on the counter, poised to dodge.

He looks back at Hal again, and his eyebrows flatten low over narrowing eyes.

"The hell are _you_ doing here?" demands Hal, who has recovered his powers of speech before Roxanne. "What the…why are you…what the _heck_ , Roxie?" He rounds back to Roxanne, his face an absurd image of outrage. "Why is he naked?"

"Probably because he's just gotten out of the shower," Roxanne shoots back, then grimaces at Megamind. "Sorry. I left my work stuff here."

He nods without looking at her. He's still watching Hal. And his gaze holds steady as he leans left and grabs one of the decorative pussy-willow wands from its scarlet vase by Roxanne's bedroom door.

He levels the narrow branch at Hal. It's about a yard long and very whippy-looking. "Out," he says, turning slightly sideways, keeping his towel in place with his other hand.

Hal turns more fully around, already snorting a laugh, incredulous. "Seriously? _You're_ ordering _me_ out? I was invited here. What's your excuse?"

"I live here," Megamind says in the same empty monotone. "Get out. Now."

Hal's eyes bug almost all the way out of his head. "You _live here?_ " he repeats, spinning around once again to confront Roxanne with a disbelieving stare. "Is he serious? Roxie, you've lost your mind! This is not okay!"

Roxanne can't keep her lip from curling. She doesn't want to be mean, but Hal has no right to think that he's allowed to have any say in her life. It's none of his damn business what she does.

She leans forward, opening her mouth to speak, but Megamind says, " _Out_ ," again, and she hesitates, glances at him. He's still watching Hal, his eyes flat and his back straight, dripping water onto the hardwood floor and still holding the branch out in front of him like a sword. _What's he doing?_ Roxanne wonders vaguely, but then she finds out, because Megamind suddenly says, "That was three," and lunges like a fencer.

He takes two leaping steps across the floor and slashes with the stick, snapping the thin wooden branch to connect with Hal's neck just above the collar of his shirt. The sharp _whap_ makes even Roxanne wince, and Hal yells and stumbles away, clapping a hand to his neck in defense. " _Leave_ ," Megamind snarls, sweeping his improvised switch back and darting forward to smack Hal in almost the same place as before, which means this time he hits Hal's bare knuckles. " _Now_."

" _OW_ , okay, okay! Don't!" Hal runs for the door, then pauses. "Uh, Roxie, are you… _augh_ okay I'm going, I'm going!" He flees, slamming the door behind him, when Megamind dances forward again.

Megamind lowers his arm and straightens, glaring after him, then turns and looks at Roxanne.

"I could've handled him," she says quietly. "You didn't have to do that."

"Did he touch you?" Megamind asks. "You look like he did. You're all blurry around the edges."

Roxanne closes her eyes. Leans on the counter. "I'm fine."

Megamind points at the door with the pussywillow switch. "That man," he says, "looks at you like you're a thing."

"He doesn't mean anything by it," she starts, but then she stops, because Megamind's expressive face has just gone from distressed to livid.

"He meant a lotof things, it sounded like! _Invited_ ," he sneers, stalking back to the vase and replacing the switch with sharp, angry movements. Ire makes his words come easier, if not easily. "He doesn't think he means anything, either. You told me about—he seemed—bumbling and—harmless and stupid." Glaring, he shuffles the decorative branches around a little. "But he isn't. Are you okay?"

Roxanne has just slumped over the counter a little bit. Now that the surprise is wearing off, now that the shock is fading, she's aware of just how loud her heart is in her ears. Yes, it's likely nothing would have happened in the end, but she still won't trust Hal behind her now and she's still justifiably freaked out. "I will be," she says. "I…"

Megamind must have run around the island; he's suddenly beside her, his long hands fluttering at her. He's hesitant to touch, as always, but Roxanne turns without thinking and puts both arms around his neck, squeezes her face into his bony shoulder. She feels him turn to stone against her, and for just a second she thinks, _Oops, mistake_ —but then he closes his arms, one around her lower back and his other fist pressing against her shoulder, squeezing her in, and when he leans his head sideways against hers, she thinks it might be okay.

Sort of nice, even. Her family doesn't live in town; it's been a while since she's had a hug from anyone close to her size. Wayne means well, but he's enormous and doesn't dare squeeze; it's not the same.

But a moment later she remembers that Megamind is all but naked—and there's no wayhe'd be okay with contact as close as this— _crap, crap!_ She shoves herself away and spins around as soon as the thought occurs to her. "Sorry!" she exclaims, twisting both hands into her hair. "I'm so sorry!"

There's a pause, and then, "I'll…I'll be right back," Megamind says, sounding uncertain, and Roxanne waits to turn around until she hears her bedroom door close. On some level, she's aware of how strange it is that almost-naked Megamind in a full-body hug felt safer than fully-clothed Hal on the other side of the kitchen island.

She groans and slides into one of the chairs at the island, pillows her forehead on her arms on the counter. She doesn't have time for this; she needs to get out there and go back to work…she needs to apologize for grabbing Megamind… _ugh_.

The floor shifts and creaks as he comes back to hover somewhere off to her left. "Are…are you okay?" he asks again, after a long moment.

Roxanne sighs. Shrugs. "Yeah," she says. "I just really don't want to go back downstairs. Hal's probably still waiting with the van…" She sits up and runs her fingers through her bangs, smoothing them back into place, then glances over at her roommate. He's wearing jeans now, plus a button-up shirt from his limited wardrobe and his gloves, but his feet are bare. "It's not like he's going to _do_ anything, but…this is going to be a really awkward conversation."

Megamind recoils. "You'll keep working with him?"

Roxanne shrugs again. "Hal's good at what he does. He's one of the best; everybody knows it. I was…lucky, really, to get him. Thanks, though," she adds. "For helping. It meant a lot to me, you stepping in. I was…getting there, but…"

He blinks at her. "You would have done the same, I think."

"You didn't have to, though." She stands and goes over to gather up her notes from where she'd dropped them earlier. They're scattered on the floor between her orange chair and her sofa and they're all out of order, _damn_. She has to take a few seconds to make sure she has all of them. "S-sorry I grabbed you," she says over her shoulder, unable to look at him. "You can stop me when I try to do that, you know."

Kneeling to reach under the sofa for a couple pages that had skated further away from the rest when she'd dropped them, Roxanne shakes her head at herself. It's not Megamind's job to stop her from doing something she knows she shouldn't. _I just need to be better about it_ , she decides as she rises to a crouch, shuffling her notes and tapping their edges on her thigh to straighten the pages— _I've also got to stop using loose-leaf_.

Megamind is still standing in the kitchen, watching her and feeling vaguely lost. Yes, her touch unsettles him, but she seems to think it's because he doesn't like it, and that's not it at all. In the beginning, it was because he simply isn't used to gentleness or physical offers of sympathy; now, it's more because he's surprised she's willing to touch him, and he has no idea what to think about how instinctive it seems sometimes.

But Roxanne acts almost like she's hurt him every time she forgets herself. And. He doesn't want to give her the wrong impression.

But Megamind doesn't reach out, he doesn't, he _doesn't_ ; it's not for him to do. He's been down that road and driven back enough times. He doesn't.

One of the definitions of insanity: trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Well, that's fine; Megamind has never claimed sanity, but does it still count if he doesn't expect a different outcome and tries anyway? What is that called?

He moves to stand beside and behind the crouching reporter, who doesn't seem to hear him. Okay. A searching glance around the room reveals no reason to feel as watched as he does, so—he reaches down to rest the tips of his fingers on Roxanne's shoulder, feather-light. She jumps and twists away, looking up at him with startled blue eyes, but—yes, she looks surprised rather than repulsed or offended, which is…hopeful? Not a _bad_ sign, certainly? Surprise is okay. Unsurprising. Megamind may be standing stone-still with his jaw tight and his eyes wide, but he still has the presence of mind to suppose surprise is understandable. He grits his teeth and flips his palm over, offering his hand.

Another moment passes, and then Roxanne takes it.

Megamind pulls her upright and forces himself not to let go as quickly as he thinks he should. Roxanne is holding her notes to her chest with her free hand and staring at him, searching his face, probably waiting for him to speak, but Megamind is still trying to process what he just did; he doesn't have words—

She can touch him. If she wants to. He doesn't know what to do with it, but that's fine, it really, it's fine. Nice. It's nice.

He drops her hand, swallows hard, steels himself, then reaches forward and gingerly puts his arms around her shoulders before he can chicken out.

It's Roxanne's turn to go stiff with astonishment, staring wide-eyed at the wall behind him. Megamind is _hugging_ her? Not because she'd pushed him and not because he's reacting to her impulse, but of his own accord?

Fine by her.

She starts to lift her hands to his back, but he releases her and steps away. "Good luck with Hal," he says, and she thinks—before he turns quickly around—he might be turning red. The tips of his ears seem…pinker than usual?

There's a long pause, and then she says a confused, overly-chipper "Thanks," and clears her throat. "I…I'll see you tonight."

Megamind only turns back as she's walking out the door, but he stares after her for a long time, flexing his fingers, trying to identify the heat in his chest and failing.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Things with Hal are indeed spectacularly awkward, but the strangest part is that he seems to think _he_ should be upset with _her_ for not telling him about Megamind.

Whatever.

He does agree to keep the information about the villain's whereabouts to himself, though that's probably because the first thing out of Roxanne's mouth when she steps into the van is, "If you tell anyone about Megamind staying with me, I will deny everything and no one will believe you, and I will not work with you anymore."

"He _hit me!_ " Hal tells her, indignant, as if Roxanne hadn't been painfully present for the whole experience. "He hit me with a _stick!_ "

"Yeah, and you should begrateful," she snaps, slinging her briefcase to the floor and buckling her seat belt. "I was gonna mace you."

Hal scoffs. "N-no you weren't. C'mon, Roxie, lighten up."

"You grabbed me around the waist and then followed me when I pushed you away," Roxanne says flatly. "Yeah, Hal. That's a recipe for getting your ass maced. Just FYI."

"Jeez, you don't have to be so rude."

" _I thought you were going to assault me_ ," she snarls. Stopped at a red light at the end of the block, Hal stares at her, slack-jawed. "No?" Roxanne says sarcastically. "After all your constant come-ons, your white-knighting, your _insistence_ that you pay for my lunches when we're working over breaks? But, y'know, I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt. I thought, no, Roxanne, Hal's not like that, Hal's just awkward and doesn't know he comes off as a _fucking creep_."

"Well, you could've said something," Hal mutters, after a long pause. "I mean, how was I s'posed to know you didn't want heartfelt compliments or somebody looking out for you?"

"Yes, I should have told you." Not that she hadn't tried, but she should probably have said it in plain English, flat out. "But I also shouldn't have needed to."

Hal brightens. "It's no problem," he tells her. "Tell you what, lemme take you to dinner, make it up to you."

Roxanne groans and clunks her head against the window of the van. _It's like I'm talking to a monkey_. "I'm not going to dinner with you."

"So…movie, then?"

"I am not going to date you." _A really, really, big, stupid monkey named Hal_.

"No no, not a date! Psh, _dates_. Who wants those?" He laughs nervously. "Just…friends! You know, like pals!"

"No, Hal."

"Look, you're obviously upset. You know what's great for not being upset? Ice cream."

" _No_ , Hal."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

That evening finds Megamind blinking down at the couch, nonplussed. He can't sit in his usual spot; Roxanne is sprawled face-down across the whole long end of the sofa, holding one of the throw pillows over her head.

It's been another long day, clearly. Megamind can't say he's surprised.

Maybe she doesn't know he's there? He coughs. "Ahem."

Roxanne mumbles something but doesn't move.

 _Okay…_ He frowns. Looks like it's up to him to fix this. Well, that shouldn't be too hard, but somehow, he feels like MarioKart won't be the best cure for a bad case of Obtuse Cameraman-itis. Still, what about a game that isn't a video game? Games always make _him_ feel better, or they used to. Maybe they'll work for Roxanne, too.

He goes to the walk-in storage closet. _Estás en_ _tu casa_ , Roxanne had said, and Megamind has had more than enough time to explore the place and familiarize himself with all the various supplies, so it doesn't take him long to find what he wants. He retrieves a certain rattly box from its shelf and carries it back over to the couch, where he settles himself cross-legged on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table to get set up. Roxanne jumps a little when he starts clattering, but still doesn't raise her head.

Megamind waits for a minute after he finishes his preparations, then has another idea. He stands and walks away again, this time aiming for the kitchen and Roxanne's liquor cabinet again—this time with a far more innocuous plan in mind than the last time he'd been in there. So far, he hasn't seen Roxanne drink much more than the occasional hard cider, but she _has_ a liquor cabinet; presumably she must enjoy what's in it sometimes.

This, he thinks, might be one of those sometimeses. He doesn't know what Roxanne does to make herself feel better. He knows how she relaxes, but…this calls for something a little more drastic than video games and old Westerns.

Roxanne doesn't sit up, since lying face-down on the couch is proving more relaxing than she'd thought it would be, but she does have to wonder what Megamind is doing with all the clinking and rustling in the kitchen. It takes a couple minutes before he returns, his soft footsteps barely audible when he hits the rug.

There are two more clinks nearby, the pronounced rustle of someone sitting down, and then Megamind clears his throat again. This time, Roxanne sighs and sits up on her elbows. Then she blinks.

And then she starts laughing. She can't help it. Megamind is sitting with his back straight and his head up on the other side of her low coffee table, gazing at her expectantly from behind a Jenga tower and two cocktail glasses full of something cloudy and yellowish. He tilts his head, looking a bit put out at her amusement, but there's something that might be a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Don't _laugh_ at me," he says reproachfully. "I'm only trying to help."

"I'm not, I'm not laughing at you," she says, even though she sort of is. Megamind squints at her but lets it slide. Her laughter doesn't sound malicious, and the point of this mad venture was to raise her spirits.

 _Whatever works_ , he supposes, and only realizes that he's rolled his eyes when she says, "Really! I'm not. At least, I don't mean to. But…" She sits up fully and leans forward, eyes sparkling, still half-laughing as she says, "this is very sweet. And unexpected. And thank you. Jenga? Really?"

"I like Yenga," he says, and doesn't add anything about feeling like he owes her for staying home with him yesterday. "It's physics. I'm good at Y…Jenga?" Roxanne had pronounced the 'j'; that must be how it's pronounced. _Oh, well_. He recovers quickly. "You, Miss Ritchi," he says, trying for the old inflection she'd told him she missed and finding it with an effort, "are going _down_."

"Oh ho! _Je te défie en duel_ ," Roxanne says, and motions taking off a glove and swatting him with it. To her surprise, Megamind goes along with the little pantomime and jerks his face to the side as though she's slapped him, but his accompanying scandalized expression is ruined somewhat by the way his smirk is spreading into almost a grin.

" _Pistolets ou des épées?_ " he returns.

" _Ni pistolets ni épées, mais_ _Jenga_ , of course, I thought we'd established that."

Megamind's full smile flashes white for a moment. "You speak French?"

"Not very well," Roxanne demurs, grinning back. "I remember a couple fun phrases, but the last time I used it to any extent was back in…oh, freshman year of college? Ages ago. I couldn't have remembered 'sword' if you hadn't said it first. And I bet my accent is atrocious." She lifts the glass he's set on her side of the table. "What's this?" she asks, peering at its contents. He'd even put sugar on the rim. _Fancy!_

"I don't know what it's called." Megamind shrugs, forces himself to speak without thinking. It's getting easier. "I had one at a bar once and liked it. Unfortunately, I had to leave before I got the name."

She raises her eyebrows. "You've gone to bars?"

He shrugs again. "There are bars in Metrocity that don't mind me."

"How much do you usually drink?"

Megamind flushes. "I…not much. Not often. Monday was…" He swallows, drags himself back to squared shoulders and a more confident tone. "Monday was unusual, I assure you."

Curious and somewhat reassured, Roxanne sips at her drink. _Vodka, triple sec_ … "It's a lemon drop!" she exclaims, surprised, then chuckles when Megamind wrinkles his nose.

"Ah?" he says. "I'd thought it would be called something less descriptive than that. A 'hammer' or something."

"You're thinking of a screwdriver. This is a lemon drop. And it's a darned good one, Megamind, I'm impressed."

He blinks at that and his color deepens, but all he says is, "Not as impressed as you'll be with my prowizz at Jenga! Come on, enough stalling."

"Enough stalling," Roxanne agrees, setting her glass back down and scooting forward to concentrate on the game at hand.

They play, poking out pieces and wiggling out blocks and putting the pieces they take out back on top of the tower to mix things up, until the tower is wobbling and dangerously top-heavy and they're both grinning. Roxanne's crowning achievement is making Megamind sneeze into his drink—she stares critically at the tower for a moment, notes how it's leaning, notes the one piece already missing from the bottom-most layer…and carefully, _carefully_ eases another block out from the bottom layer so that only one block is left. And it isn't the middle block.

"What the _cheese balls_ ," Megamind says, coughing a little on his lemon drop. "I was going to do that!"

Roxanne raises her glass to him. "Great minds think alike! And now it's your move." She sounds very smug, singsonging, "Good luuuck!"

Megamind huffs. "Fine. The forces of _ee-vil_ don't give up without a fight."

It takes him nearly three whole minutes and Roxanne is griping about _Should I just go to sleep, do you think you'll have completed this move by sunup_ before he finishes his turn, but he eventually tweaks a block out and puts it on top without toppling the tower.

Roxanne scowls at him. "Well, lookat Mr. Delicate Hands over here."

"It's a gift," Megamind says with a smirk, wiggling his fingers at her. "Are you ready to _lose_ , Miss Ritchi?"

"Ha! In your dreams."

She manages to ease one of the middle pieces in the upper layers out of position, and she's in the process of gently replacing it on top of the tower when Megamind says, "Nice tongue." It's a bizarre enough comment that she pauses and looks up, confused. Then she realizes she's got her tongue clamped between her teeth, which happens sometimes when she's concentrating, and it's poking out and _Megamind is smirking at her_ , and she pulls her tongue back in her mouth with a mortified _slup_ noise that makes Megamind actually start laughing for the first time in months.

It's not clear whether he bumped the table or if Roxanne was embarrassed enough to slip. Either way, the tower comes scattering down with a godawful clatter and they both make frantic scrambles to keep their drinks from being knocked over by bouncing wooden blocks.

Megamind can't stop laughing. He brushes blocks aside and sets his drink back down, then puts his head on the table, shoulders shaking as he tries to pull himself back under control.

For a moment, he thinks he has it, and he starts to sit up. Guilt hits him suddenly and he chokes and bows back down again, disgusted with himself.

Today felt normal. Today felt just fine. The anniversary of Minion's death was two days ago, and he's lying to Roxanne in the worst possible way, and he feels fine and he _can't_. _Do_. _This_.

Roxanne reaches out and puts her hand on his head, and the gesture is just hesitant and gentle enough to make Megamind lose all hope of control—he feels his helpless laughter shift to something else, feels the tears well in his eyes. _No. No. This was supposed to be fun. This was supposed to be a good night!_

Then Roxanne is kneeling next to him on the floor, slowly pulling him against her, and Megamind can't fight it anymore—it's too late, anyway—he wraps his arms around her as tightly as he can, rests his massive forehead in the curve of her neck, and cries into the space between them.

"Easy," Roxanne says quietly, "you're okay."

He cries for Minion, his parents, everything he's lost, but he also cries for Roxanne and everything he's gained but never wanted, never asked for, everything he'd taken without meaning to—

He cries for the new bond shivering in the back of his mind. He hadn't _wanted_ it. What he wants is Minion, Minion or nothing at all, and he really had tried to learn to manage on his own. He'd tried lists and work and balance, he'd tried his _absolute best_ to keep this from happening, but it's not something he can control—it's not something he'd even been fully aware of in the beginning—not something he could have even warned Roxanne about. By the time he'd realized what was happening, it was too late.

So this is the last chance he'll have to hold her like this. He'd always known it was too good to last, and sure enough, here it is. He can't go on pretending nothing's wrong between them; he has to tell her the truth. He'd broken into her mind and made himself part of her. Without even asking. There's no coming back from that, he knows. That's sick. That's _vile_. She'd taken him in and shown him the kind of welcome and friendship he'd thought was a myth for people like him; she'd shown him grace, and he'd repaid her kindness by binding himself to her.

And he doesn't have Minion to catch him when he falls.

"Megamind," Roxanne whispers, moving gentle hands up and down his back as he bites down on hiccupping sobs, "shhhh. I know. It's okay, it's okay, we'll…we'll get there." She swallows hard, wanting to tell him…but without knowing for sure, she doesn't dare. She can't give him something like that if it's not going to be true. Megamind gasps something and she rubs a circle on the back of his skull, amazed that he's letting her do all this, amazed that he actually seems to be clinging to her. "What? I didn't…"

"I said _I'm sorry_ ," he chokes out.

"Hey, no, you don't have to—"

Megamind shakes his head wildly and tries to pull back, stammering something about how she doesn't _understand_ , she doesn't know what he _did_ , she doesn't realize what he _is_ —he's sorry, he didn't know, he didn't _know_ —

But.

The thing is.

He's got it wrong.

And for a few moments, Roxanne can only stare at him, horrified that he seems to be pleading with her to believe him. She'd had no idea he was this upset about what was happening, or she would have said something sooner.

"Megamind," she says, interrupting his frenzied apologies. "No. Megamind, stop." She reaches out again, shaking her head, and takes his wet face in both hands. " _Stop_."

His eyes are so wide she can see the whites all around his irises. "But…I…"

"No. I think I do know. And if I'd known you were this freaked out about it…jeez, Megamind, I figured you'd just tell me when you were ready, I didn't know you were so upset!" she exclaims.

Megamind blinks, then shakes his head wildly, making Roxanne move her hands away. "No, you _can't_ , it's…I…we…"

He can barely get the words out. "You said Minion was in your head, right?" Roxanne asks desperately, hoping that if she just says it, maybe he'll calm down. "He helped you?"

He doesn't calm down, but he does stop dead in his tracks and stare at her, barely breathing. Well, it's a step. Encouraged, she continues, "Here's what I think. When you two were linked, it was like…you guys were like a team. Minion was the steady one. Minion was steady and…and you were clever. Right?" She doesn't expect an answer, and she doesn't get one other than Megamind's eyes going absolutely saucer-huge. She swallows and slowly reaches for him again. "Megamind, you think so fast. And I think…I think on your own, you get tangled up in it, because you…you're steady _here_ , but not up _here_." She pokes him gently in the chest, then in the forehead. Megamind stares at her, wide-eyed and silent, as she keeps going.

"A-and maybe it wasn't like that for your whole species, I don't know," she says, her voice wobbling only a little, "but I think you're _made_ to…to link up, sort of, to a steady mind to balance out your clever one, because otherwise you get lost in your head. Like you were when I found you." She trails off and swallows. "So, that's what happened, isn't it? I'm in your head, now. I'm the steady one, now, because Minion is…because Minion isn't, anymore," and she squeezes her eyes closed for a moment, struggling.

(Megamind isn't sure whether his heart is still beating or not. Everything's stopped. She _knows?_ How…what happens now? Where is she going with this? What's going on?)

Roxanne opens her eyes, steeling herself. "And _I'm_ not Minion," she says, refusing to let herself cry because if she starts now, she'll never stop, "I'm _not_ and I can't be and I won't try. I can't be Minion for you." She sucks in a breath, and finishes, "But I can be your steady brain if you need one. I can be that until…until we figure out what to do. At least. Okay?" She pauses, hoping for a response now, but Megamind is pale and shaking, staring at her like she's just pulled him off of some kind of cliff. "Okay?" Roxanne says again, searching his eyes for some kind of confirmation that he's even heard what she said. "Is—is that—right? Did I get that right?" She reaches out to him again.

"I'm sorry," Megamind gasps, startling into a response and gripping her arms as soon as her hands land on his shoulders, "I…I didn't mean…please don't make me leave, _please_."

Her heart breaks a little. "I know you didn't mean to; don't apologize." She moves a hand up and rubs over the side of his enormous head to try and steady him, feels the swell of his skull under her palm, then pulls him back into a hug. His hands slide around to her back again. "This…this wasn't a choice. I get it." If Megamind is finally letting her touch him, she's not going to stop anytime soon. To her surprise, he drags his fingers into the back of her shirt and hooks his chin over her shoulder.

" _How?_ " he hisses, shivering as the terrified adrenaline slowly bleeds out of his system. "How did you know?"

"The things you were finding to do around the apartment were all things I wanted, even the stuff that wasn't on the list." It's all a bunch of coincidences and reading into things, but…it all feels true enough, in a way she can't fully explain. "And when we went for groceries last week, you said if there was ever a next time, I wouldn't be there. Megamind, the only thing that would _ever_ keep me away if this happened to you again is if _I_ was the 'next time.'" She rubs her hands down his back and up again. "Try to calm down for me? It's okay, really. We'll get through this. I'm okay. We're okay."

God, _God_ , she is the most amazing person he's ever known. He'd been so sure she would kick him out as soon as he told her what was going on. But not only did she figure it out on her own, she's _okay_ with it? "Y-you should be _so angry_ ," he whispers. "You should be furious, you should…I can stay?" His hands tighten on her back. "I can stay?"

The hell with backrubs; she wraps her arms around him and squeezes. "You can stay," she assures him. "I want you to stay, I'm not making you leave."

He pulls back so he can see her face. "A-and this," he says, "the…the touching, this, this is okay?"

She looks totally baffled. "Yeah, this is fine, why wouldn't it be fine?"

He shrugs, but it's too sharp to be truly nonchalant. "N-nobody else ever wanted to," he says, still wide-eyed, still breathing too hard. Incredibly, she smiles.

"Megamind, for pity's sake," she says. "You haven't noticed? I'm a really touchy-feely person. If I'm comfortable with someone and they're comfortable with me, I don't see why I shouldn't cuddle up to them sometimes."

"You've never cuddled at me _before_ ," he begins, but Roxanne laughs and tips her head against his.

"Because every time I've touched you—until today, anyway—you flinched. I thought you didn't like touch. But then when you hugged me this afternoon, I thought…well, I guess I was wrong." Her mouth twists wryly and it's her turn to pull back and look at him. "But if you're okay with it, then I fully intend to be physically affectionate with you. And you can do the same, if you want to."

"Y-you realize I may never stop," he warns with a damp little smile, and Roxanne's eyes crinkle in answering amusement.

"Believe it or not, that's a risk I'm willing to take," she says. "We're having a brain thing, we ought to be able to at least rub elbows once in a while." Then, suddenly, she stands, sliding her hands down his arms as she does so and gripping his fingers so she can pull him to his feet. "Up," she tells him. "The floor is a stupid place to do this, let's move it to the couch."

On the couch, Megamind huddles away from her, but that's understandable—he's embarrassed about his outburst, he's accustomed to physical isolation, it'll take time for him to learn to be comfortable with touch. "You…really don't care that it's me?" he asks. "Doing this to you? On top of everything else I…?"

"Don't get me wrong, 'everything else' was pretty messed up," Roxanne tells him, and he pales and his shoulders go stiff. _Still expecting me to throw him out_ , she realizes. _Still expecting me to come to my senses. What am I going to do with you?_ "But you were never cruel," she continues, keeping her tone light, "and besides, this is now. You're a different person now than you were even just a year and a half ago. Loss changes everyone, Megamind—you most of all, I think, because of how you're made.

"And Metro Man told me some stuff while we were looking for you," she adds, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Stuff I had no idea about. I was thinking of you in…in a different light even before I found you out back of that cafe."

"What 'stuff?'" Megamind asks, suspicious in spite of the fact that he's still barely two steps from freaking again. "What did he tell you?"

"Enough for me to know for sure that you were never the villain everyone thought you were. So that," she continues, before Megamind can respond to his reputation going up in smoke, "on top of you pretty much having to reinvent how you think, on top of me getting to know you a little…you're not the guy you were back when you were kidnapping me." She shrugs. "How can I judge you as if you were?"

She makes a good point. Megamind sucks his lip into his mouth and bites down on a shuddery breath, hoping this isn't just some trick or a dream or something and she really means everything she's saying; hoping she's not just telling him what she thinks he wants to hear. She sounds earnest enough. He'll just have to try to take her at her word, but…her continued acceptance of all his weirdnesses is so strange.

He swallows hard and looks over at her, raising his free hand to rub the back of his head before he finally nods. "All right," he says in a low voice. "Th-thank you. Still, I…I wish you didn't have to deal with all my…inhumanity."

Roxanne's eyebrows pull together. He looks so _uncomfortable_ , sitting like that with his knees to his chest and his hand to his head. All she wants to do is give him some kind of reassurance, but she doesn't know how. "Is there more to the inhumanity than just the brain thing?" she asks. "Not because it's a problem, I'm just curious." _And maybe you'll feel less upset about it if I know the rest_.

Megamind's lips twist. "Oh, there's more," he says. "A lot more. Did you know I have gills?"

"What?" She goggles at him. " _Where?_ " She's never seen them, and he'd been almost naked earlier today. Shouldn't they be somewhere on his neck? Maybe behind his ears? She cranes her head from side to side, trying to see if there's some kind of slit that she missed before. "I thought you were a mammal!"

"I probably am, as far as it matters," he says. "From what I understand, my aquatic traits were added to my species' genome less than seven generations before I was born. We didn't evolve them."

Roxanne shakes her head, amazed. "More than the gills? Can I see?"

He studies her face for a moment, looking less than enthused, but then his expression flattens out and he shrugs. "Sure. Watch." He pulls his arm away and draws back, scooting across the cushions and turning to face her. Then he points at one of his eyes and blinks transparent membranes sideways across his corneas. Roxanne jumps.

Then, incredibly, she beams and leans forward. "Oh _wow_ ," she exclaims, peering at him, excited. "That's so _cool!_ "

Startled, Megamind blinks them again. That…wasn't the reaction he'd expected. Huh. "M-my feet are webbed, too," he tells her, and she looks, if possible, even more skeptically delighted than before.

"No way," Roxanne declares, reaching for her mostly-finished lemon drop and shifting to curl one leg comfortably under her on the sofa. "I'm looking at your feet right now, your toes look totally normal to me."

Megamind pinches the web space between his first and second toes, drawing it out. "They mostly stay folded back, but swimming creates enough drag to extend them."

"Huh. And…your gills?" she asks, ever curious. "Are they on your neck?"

"My neck doesn't have the space to give me enough oxygen." He thinks for a moment, then allows, "Maybe if they were external, I could have them on my neck."

Roxanne has to grin a bit at the mental image of Megamind with a big, fluffy frill of gill tissue flaring behind his ears. _He'd probably find a way to dye it black_ , she thinks, and almost laughs. "Then where _are_ they?"

Megamind hesitates, then twists sideways and lifts the hem of his shirt nearly all the way up to his armpit. "They vent on my sides, between my ribs."

Roxanne returns her glass to the coffee table and leans in to investigate. Sure enough, there's a single thin line between each of the five widest visible ribs in Megamind's chest. "Huh," she says, touching one of the four lines with a gentle fingertip. "It doesn't _look_ like a gill."

Megamind hisses a breath between his teeth at her touch but keeps his voice steady. "They're sealed now. Sort of thinly healed over. I don't like using them; breaking the seal hurts and I don't usually spend enough time submerged to warrant it." He does his best to sound blasé, like he doesn't care, like he isn't worried this will scare her off—like he isn't half-hoping that it does, because if _this_ doesn't scare her off, then maybe he really is safe. And safety scares him like almost nothing else. "Th-they take a while to heal again, too, and they're prone to infection out of the water."

Roxanne glances up at him. "How often do you use them?" she asks. "It seems a shame to let this go to waste."

"Usually not more than once a year." Megamind's voice has gone abruptly cold. "On our birthday." Roxanne's expression takes on a sympathetic cast and she strokes absently back and forth along one of the sealed gills as she opens her mouth to speak.

Megamind gasps and shudders away, though, and Roxanne jerks her hand back. "Bad touch?"

"No," Megamind says, dropping his shirt and rubbing his side in an attempt to banish the tingles. "No, they're just…um…" _Crap_. He's blushing all the way down his neck, he can feel it. Gills are delicate structures and they contain a lot of nerves to discourage and report any injuries. "Sensitive. That's all."

"Oops." Roxanne covers her mouth with a hand, blushing now, herself. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

Even gills isn't enough to faze her, and Megamind sits stiffly, trying to process this. He's an alien. An _alien_. He'd expected the physical proof of how alien he is to put Roxanne off, but…

She doesn't seem to care. She might even sort of like it; she looks interested. Impressed, even.

And she'd cried when he'd told her about home, he remembers abruptly. She'd cried for a planet that wasn't even hers.

"Can I touch you?" Roxanne asks, and Megamind jumps.

"Wh-what?"

"I want to lean on you, is that okay?"

Stunned, Megamind nods, and Roxanne gives him a pleased grin and wiggles in under his arm, then puts her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks for tonight," she says. "I needed the Jenga. That was so much fun. And I can't believe you know how to make lemon drops!"

"You're welcome. S-sorry for ruining it," he says quietly.

"Oh, stop." Roxanne nudges him with an elbow. "You didn't ruin anything."

"I don't…I was so sure you'd…you'd want me to get as far away from you as possible," Megamind says. "And now y-you're sitting like this. I don't. Understand."

Roxanne yawns and turns on the television. It's a nature special, something about crocodiles. Cool. "It's not like you're hearing my thoughts," she points out. "I mean, as long as you're not actually a telepath, we're good in my book." He's quiet. "Why does this bother you so much?"

"I didn't even ask. And if…if something happens. To me." Megamind's arm around her tightens just a tiny bit. "What happens to you?"

"You have to remember, this kind of bond isn't necessary for me," Roxanne reminds him. "I hardly feel it. I'm not sure I even do feel it, at all! If you die, I'll probably be okay brain-wise." Then she nudges him again. "Don't die, though, okay?" she adds.

"I'll do my best."

"Screw your best, just don't _do_ it." Roxanne scowls. "I'd be really upset if you died. Really upset. So don't do it."

"Okay," Megamind says after a long moment. "Okay, then. I won't."

A minute later, Roxanne stirs. "You're doing that thing again," she accuses gently. "Aren't you? Worrying about how you owe me, or something."

"I _do_ owe you." Megamind's voice is flat. "It's not…it's not a 'thing' I'm doing; it's just a fact, Roxanne. I owe you a lot. Maybe even my life, I don't know. Absolutely my happiness."

"So tell me a secret," Roxanne says. "Okay? That's my price. Something you've never told anyone. Then we're square, after this, okay?"

Megamind glances down at her, lips finally tweaking to the side in mild amusement. "That's all? One secret?"

Roxanne shrugs. "Fine, two secrets. Is that better? Then you can stop worrying?"

Megamind laughs quietly, unable to believe his luck. "Two secrets," he repeats. "Aaah. Okay. Agreed." He thinks for a moment, then says, "Metro Man and I are from the same star system."

Roxanne leans away just enough so she can look around at his face. "Really?"

"It's true. We were both headed for Scott Manor, but he knocked me off course."

"Huh." Roxanne settles back in. "Wow. You could've grown up a rich brat. Can you imagine?"

"I've tried, and no, I can't." He shakes his head. "It's just too weird." Then he pauses. "You…you _aren't_ actually dating him, by the way. Are you?"

Roxanne laughs again and shakes her head. "Nope!" she exclaims. "Not even a little bit. We're friends. I mean, we're good friends! But the closest we've ever been to a date is just getting food together sometimes. He's just not my type."

"Not your _type_ ," Megamind says, startled. "He's Adoonis with superpowers. What is your type, if not that?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," Roxanne replies primly. She's always preferred brains to brawn, but she's not about to tell Megamind that. Not tonight, anyway; she's not adding _that_ to his plate, not while she's squeezed against his side and he's slowly, _finally_ , starting to relax. "C'mon, secret number two! What is it?"

Megamind fumbles for a moment, still preoccupied with the concept that Metro Man is, somehow, not a universal type for everyone even remotely interested in men. "Um—nobody liked me when I was in school. I was always picked last for everything."

Roxanne is quiet for a moment, and he's not sure what she's thinking. He realizes a little late that that's not really a secret; there's lots of people who know that. But they never thought anything of it.

"Well," Roxanne finally says, "it's too bad we didn't go to the same school," and Megamind's world goes soft and pink at the corners.

 _I'm in trouble_ , he thinks, not for the first time. But this is the first time that his heart hasn't sunk at the thought.

This is very much not how he'd pictured tonight ending. Before Roxanne had come home, he'd been trying to think of the network of tunnels under the city, trying to remember how they went deeper down, trying to think of a place he could go that wouldn't fill with water during the storms. Trying to think of what to say to her, how to say it, never dreaming that he'd actually disclose the bond tonight. Either way, no matter when he talked to her about it, he hadn't thought they'd wind up on speaking terms—let alone on touching terms. Let alone on _cuddling_ terms.

This is so much better. And so much worse. At least the drain would be predictable—cold, damp. He likes cold and damp; they're dependable. This, though…this, this living-with-Roxanne business, what happens when it ends? Where does he go then? He can't leave this. It scares him like nothing else. But…

But Roxanne is soft and steady. And her apartment is light and safety, and Megamind couldn't give it up if he tried. If she's forgiven him—and she _has_ ; amazingly, incredibly, she hadn't even thought there was anything to forgive—then he will stay here, with her, as long as she'll have him.

A few minutes pass. Then Roxanne says, "I'm gonna start calling you 'Brainmate' instead of 'Spaceman.'"

Megamind winces. "Please don't," he says, but Roxanne just throws her head back onto his shoulder and laughs.

This is _so_ much better.


	7. Chapter 7

THE CHAPTER IS LATE I'M SORRY but I had to add the end scene and also most of the not-quite-end scene is totally new because it just WASN'T working before….but I fixed it! And I hope you like it. :)

There's a line in here that I borrowed from _Home_ , because it is excellent and I think it could be something Megamind might say. If he was trying to be funny. I own nothing, as usual.

You should really listen to the song, by the way. I had never heard of Kate Rusby before a couple days ago, but her voice is absolutely fantaaaabulous and I love love love pretty much everything I've heard from her so far. A close second to _Little Jack Frost_ was _Who Will Sing Me Lullabies_ , because I love pain! (And if you like fun folk songs, you may like _The Maid of Llanwellyn_ , which…sort of also applies here, now that I think about it.)

The song for this chapter was originally going to be _Pluto_ , by Sleeping At Last, but this chapter is a more cheerful chapter and Pluto is…it fits MegaRox really well (all of SAL's planet songs do, I think) but it doesn't fit this chapter, and then I found Ms. Rusby's music, and… _Little Jack Frost_ has some lyrics that are on the more abstract side—I am not sure what's up with the trees—but it still fits the chapter. The chorus, oh lord, I need to lie down.

Ugh I am having feelings about music help help help.

tl;dr Here is the chapter, Dal is in a glass case of emotion, te amo ad infinitum, ab imo pectore, you are absolute perfection and you deserve only good things in life. See you next week!

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 7**

 **Little Jack Frost – Kate Rusby**

The next morning, Roxanne gets up early and heads down to the corner bakery. After the rough night they'd had, they both need a little change of pace, and what could be better than toasted everything bagels with lots of cream cheese and toppings?

It turns out Megamind has never had bagels before, which is strange to Roxanne, who grew up eating them almost every Saturday—it wasn't the weekend without bagels and cream cheese—but what's really funny is that he's never even seen one. Roxanne finds this out when he picks one out of the box and bites into it, doesn't even cut it or toast it or anything, and it's pretty clear that he had no idea what he was biting into because his whole expression just _twists_. He's standing frozen by the kitchen island with his teeth in the bagel and his lips pulling back from his gums, one eyebrow twitching and the other crawling up his forehead, and Roxanne is bent double and crying with laughter, because _Megamind's face_. She'd nearly forgotten how elastic his face is.

Megamind pulls the bagel out of his mouth and spits the piece he'd bitten off into his hand, then squints at it, licking his teeth. Then he looks up at Roxanne. "What is this?" he asks, looking like he isn't sure whether to glare or not. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Roxanne tries to stand up straight to reply but she can't stop laughing; after a moment, she just puts her face in her arms on the counter and howls.

Megamind stands uncertainly by the island. "If you don't explain this to me," he warns after a few seconds, "I'm going to mash the chewed piece on your head and you're going to have to shower again."

Roxanne lifts her head and chokes out, "It's a _bagel_. Haven't you ever had a bagel before?"

"Bagels don't have bits on them." Megamind dangles the one he'd selected by two fingers. "What _is_ this?"

"It's…ow, my ribs. Okay." Roxanne straightens, wiping tears from her eyes, lips twitching. "It's an everything bagel. It's got onions and sesame and poppy seeds, salt, garlic…what did you think it was?"

Megamind shrugs, staring at the thing in his hand. "Some new kind of doughnut. This bay-gull is full of _lies_."

Roxanne snorts, but manages to stifle the giggles that threaten. "Y-yeah, I wouldn't want to bite into one of those either if I thought it was a doughnut. That'd be like…eating a deviled egg and expecting it to be a cupcake."

" _Yechhh_ ," Megamind says, his horrified green gaze flicking to her again. "Why would you say that?"

"But look, they're really good," Roxanne insists. "You cut them and toast them and put cream cheese on. And little pickled capers. Here, try," she says, holding out half her bagel, which she'd just finished arranging her onions and capers on, but Megamind pinches his lips together and leans away.

"No." He wrinkles his nose. "They're probably just little pickled lies. You can't put lies on top of lies and make it better."

"Oh, says you. Just try it."

Megamind rumples his face at her but finally opens his mouth, squinching his eyes shut. Roxanne rolls her eyes and steps forward, thinking, _Well, fine, if he's going to be a_ _child_ _about it_ , and puts it in his mouth. Megamind peeks at her, one green eye slitting open as he bites down.

Bagels being what they are, it takes a small, ridiculous tug-of-war before Roxanne gets the rest of her breakfast back. "There," she says, cocking an eyebrow at him and stepping back. "Not so bad, huh?"

Megamind chews slowly, his expression unreadable. As much as he hates to admit it…now that he's not expecting sugar, the odd combination of savory flavors is almost good.

"Well?" Roxanne, ever impatient, taps her foot, then smirks. "C'mon, Brainmate." She wiggles her eyebrows at him, smug. "Tell me I'm right."

Megamind swallows the bite in his mouth, puts his chomped bagel on the counter and tosses his initial bite into the sink for the disposal to get later, then aims a finger at the half Roxanne is still holding. "That's got my germs on it," he says. "It's mine now. Hand it over."

She laughs. "Not on your life! Toast your own. Here, I'll show you. There's a trick to spreading the cream cheese on hot bread so it doesn't go all stupid and melty…"

"So," Megamind says a few minutes later, fumbling a little with the cream cheese, which he hasn't yet gotten the hang of, "why bagels?"

Roxanne shrugs and scuffles her slippered feet over to the refrigerator to get the capers back out for him. "I like them. Paul used to run out and get them every Saturday morning before me and Rosemary woke up so they'd be fresh."

"Paul?" Megamind asks, glancing at her. "Rosemary?"

"Oh…Rosemary is my, um, other sister. Two years younger than me. Paul was my stepdad."

Megamind's hand pauses on the tiny caper spoon. "Was," he repeats.

Roxanne nods. "Yeah, he had a stroke a couple years ago. Died in his sleep three days later." She leans on the counter. "Minion drove me to the hospital when I got the call. You let me out of the kidnapping that time."

Megamind frowns. "I remember that."

Roxanne starts to say something, then seems to think better of it and shakes her head.

"What?" Megamind says.

Roxanne is quiet for a long minute, her eyes distant, before she quietly asks, "You're sure you tried everything?" and Megamind feels his lips thin. "I'm sorry," Roxanne says quickly, "I didn't mean…"

"Everything I could think of," he tells her, his voice flat. "And I've…tried to think of what else I could try. There's nothing. It's all…just blank. Every time." He huffs a little sigh, puffing his cheeks. "You know, I _had_ to leave the Lair? Towards the end, I…I was averaging four hours of sleep a week. It…wasn't good."

Roxanne puts her hand on his arm and he jumps a little. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I…talking is okay," he says, but now that he's said it, the words are gone. Frowning, he turns around and hoists himself up onto Roxanne's kitchen counter, moves his plate to his knees.

"If you want, we could go back to the Lair," Roxanne offers. "You've got me, now; maybe that'll change things?"

Megamind shakes his head. "I'd rather not. It's a mess. I went…I turned it upside down. I don't want that to happen again. I'm not sure I could…"

He trails into another long, awkward pause, then shrugs quickly and returns to his bagel.

"But if…if you missed something, wouldn't you want to know?"

Megamind swallows and stops with the bagel halfway to his mouth. "Not if I wasn't sure it would help me get him back," he says. "No. I don't…I couldn't…handle that. Talk to me about something else," he adds with a wry grin, "please. Or I'm going to be useless for the rest of the day."

Roxanne watches him for a moment, then smiles. "I'm gonna make bacon," she announces. "I make _great_ bacon. You wanna learn?"

"I would love to," Megamind replies fervently.

"Good." Roxanne nudges his hip. "Hop down, I need to get to the drawer. And you'll want to put your gloves on, 'cause making bacon hurts. Can you run in my room and grab the red hoodie off my chair? I need something with sleeves that cover my hands."

Megamind snorts and jumps to the floor. "'Kay. Don't touch my bagel."

"I've got my own, I don't need yours."

Roxanne stands for a moment, just staring into the fridge and thinking about her conversation with Metro Man earlier that week. Minion might not be dead. Just back in time. But if Megamind doesn't want to know…well, and maybe she and Wayne will be able to figure something out. After all, Wayne understands this time travel stuff on a deeper level; apparently, it's part of what he is. Maybe…

All she wants is to be able to walk in the door with Minion hale and whole behind her. That's all she wants. Megamind can't know until the deed is done and Minion is home. She doesn't even know if it'll work; maybe Wayne is wrong. But _if_. If he's right, if they can pull this off…

"You were a lifeguard?"

Roxanne jumps; she's not sure she'll ever get used to how silently Megamind walks. "Oh!" she exclaims. "Yeah, years ago. That's probably the oldest sweatshirt I own." She laughs and does her best to put Minion out of her mind. If Megamind notices that she's thinking about something and he presses her, Roxanne's not sure she'll be able to lie to him about something like this.

But still, she's going to have a rough time hiding this from him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Metro Man texts her at work two days later. _Hey I'm the lair. Think I've worked out why the gun didn't work the same when MM shot other stuff. Reset button takes A LOT of power._

Roxanne swallows. _Really?_ she texts back.

 _Remember that bunch of nutty storms last summer? Like 3 in a row? Bet there was a surge._

 _No way,_ Roxanne tells him, _Megamind would have surge protectors_.

He takes a bit longer to reply this time. _Maybe. Need your input on this. You free tonight?_

 _On-air tonight. Tomorrow? Or I have off Thursday?_

 _Charity dinner tomorrow… & Thursday I've got that stupid chamber of commerce meeting with the suits._

Roxanne snorts. Nobody hates the Chamber like Metro Man. _Friday_ , she sends.

 _Friday. H8 to leave it so long._

 _I know_. Roxanne bites her lip; the suspense is killing her. _I'll make a diversion Thursday? Get u out of the meeting. Where's it held?_

 _Don't u dare. Meeting sux but it's important. I'll see u Friday_.

Roxanne rolls her eyes. _Boring McBoringpants. He's right, u are a goody-2-shoes_.

 _He's a bad influence is what he is :P see you Friday_

She doesn't respond; he's probably busy and she has enough on her plate preparing for that evening's news segment. She shoves the Minion problem to the back of her mind as best she can, but it's hard. Even when she's taking instructions through her earpiece and scanning for new information in tweets and message boards, part of her is still trying not to agonize over something she might not be able to change.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

On Thursday evening, Megamind goes out. Roxanne's not sure where he's going, and she doesn't ask—he just suddenly gets to his feet and grabs his keys, glaring down at the pieces of his electromagnetic device, which are spread out in a semicircle on the floor.

"Heading out?" Roxanne says, glancing up from her book.

Megamind nods. "I'll be back later."

She shrugs. "Sounds good. Stay safe."

And he must be feeling more like himself than Roxanne had realized, because he rolls his eyes at her and says, "Ugh, you're such a _guppy_ " as he leaves.

Roxanne blinks after him, then snorts and gets to her feet. She's going to dust. She's wanted to dust for a few days, but Megamind either hadn't noticed or hadn't known how to do it, and Roxanne hadn't wanted to start while he'd been around because cleaning and loud music go together like peas and carrots, in her book. And Megamind doesn't need to be present for any of that.

She goes to her stereo, drops a couple of her cleaning mix CDs into the six-changer and sets it on random, turns the volume up, goes to her closet and grabs the dust-rag and the Pledge as Aerosmith starts with _Back in the Saddle_.

Roxanne's taste in music is varied but leans mostly towards hard rock and roll and heavy metal, the older stuff in particular, and her cleaning mixes tend to be on the heavier side. Black Sabbath follows Aerosmith with Led Zepplin on its heels. One of these days she'll have to get an iPod or something so she won't be limited by the size of a CD.

A lot of these songs are fun to try and sing along to, and since Roxanne can't really hear herself over the music, she doesn't mind belting out the lyrics as best she can. She's not expecting Megamind to be back anytime soon, which is why she almost screams when she spins around in the middle of boogieing her heart out during the chorus of _Beautiful Girls_ and sees him standing just inside the door. His eyebrows are higher than she's seen them in weeks.

Well, he's already here and she's having too much fun to be mortified, so she just shrugs and carries on dancing. "Come on!" she says loudly. "You in, or what?"

Megamind grins wide and steps forward. "You like Van Halen?" he says over the music.

"Love it!" she exclaims, then pauses, laughing—there's some seriousair guitar going on in Megamind's corner—and abandons dancing in favor of joining in on the imaginary drums for what little remains of the song.

The next track on the CD is Metallica's _Nothing Else Matters_ , and since it's reasonably slow, Roxanne picks up the dust rag, intending to return to her little chore. Instead, she turns around and then jumps back, because Megamind has just appeared behind her, his hands extended.

"Dance?" he says, still grinning, but there's an uncertain quirk to his lips that wasn't there initially. "You were dancing before. When I came in."

Taken aback, Roxanne raises her eyebrows, but nods. "Okay…" she says. "Sure. If you can dance to this, let's dance." Then she adds, "What…do I do?" because if the way Megamind holds himself is any indication, his invitation includes a bit more than just standing in front of each other and breaking out the club moves.

Megamind's eyes light when she accepts. "Ah…p-put your left hand on my shoulder…yes. Now…um…" He falters, half-freezing.

Roxanne cocks a grin at him. "Tell you what, you just put me where you need me," she instructs him, holding up her other hand. She's expecting him to blush and stammer something else, but instead…

Instead, his green eyes flick to hers for a split second, and then his smile softens and he nods and steps closer, catching her raised hand in his as he reaches around her other side to rest his free hand high on Roxanne's back, with his elbow under hers. His eyes are downcast now as he raises their joined hands and their elbows to shoulder height, but he's not hesitant about any of it.

"I can't dance," Roxanne warns as Megamind moves in, because this feels unexpectedly formal, "I don't know how," but Megamind huffs something that might, possibly, be a laugh and shakes his head.

"Anyone can dance to this, it's in three-quarter time, it's _easy_ ," he scoffs. "Just keep your knees loose and follow my lead. Ready?"

"No," Roxanne says. "What foot first? What's your lead?"

"It's a three-step," Megamind explains. "Slowly now, move with me. I step back with my right foot and you step forward with your left…good. Then I step forward with _my_ left foot and you step back with your right." Roxanne shifts, staring down at their feet. "Then I'll bring my right foot forward again," Megamind continues, and Roxanne, who thinks she might have the general idea, nods.

"And I'll bring my left foot in with your right?" she asks. "We keep our feet together? I mirror you, is that the goal?"

"That's the goal," Megamind tells her in a quiet tone. It's oddly reassuring, and Roxanne does her best to let go of her shaky breath.

 _This is okay_ , she tells herself as she slowly moves through the steps a few times with him, her eyes on their feet, _this is fine. He was right, this_ _is_ _easy, I shouldn't be so nervous_. She forces herself to try and concentrate. Right, left, right…hm. The steps really are reasonably basic, just _one_ -two-three, _one_ -two-three. This isn't so hard.

It's just that…dancing isn't…she doesn't dance like this. She's going to step on his feet, or she's going to fall over and cut her shin open on the table, or something; this is going to be a disaster, she just knows it.

"All right?" Megamind asks after a few simple turns.

He's warm and solid in her hands, he smells like leather and toothpaste, and when Roxanne looks up from staring at her toes and sees how he's watching her through his eyelashes, she knows he's offering to let her go back to her chore before they do anything more complicated.

"All right," Roxanne says, sounding more confident than she feels, "you lead, I'll follow."

Megamind's eyes crinkle at the corners as he lifts his chin and squares his shoulders, gently pressing Roxanne flush against him, the way she'd been before the lesson in footwork. "And now," he murmurs, gripping her hand more firmly.

And now the steps are wider. The steps are wider and their arms are tighter and Roxanne can't see her feet anymore, and they're turning, but Megamind guides her with his hands and his hips, whirling them around in time to the slow beat of the song, and it's not so hard to follow him.

 _Wow_ , Roxanne thinks dizzily, _oh my—oh my god—this is weird—this is_ awesome— _who knew he could_ _dance?_ And then, _Wait a minute…is this…?_ She blinks, her concentration slipping a little, and tilts her head at him. He hadn't told her the name of the dance and Roxanne had been too distracted to ask, but she thinks she may have seen this done somewhere before, and if she's right, then this is possibly the best and most surprising surprise ever.

"Megamind," Roxanne says, "is this a waltz?"

Megamind actually winks at her. Roxanne's mouth falls open, but then a tug on her hand pulls her back to the dance. "Spin!" Megamind says, grinning now, eyebrows raised. "Catch my opposite hand." And before Roxanne quite knows what's going on, he spins her out and away before reaching as though for a handshake. Roxanne follows his direction, too amazed to question at this point, and Megamind pulls her in, twirls her under his arm so they're facing the same direction, and draws her hand across his shoulders. And suddenly his free hand is on her waist and she's leaning sideways against him while he leans sideways— _is this still a waltz? this feels more like a tango move than a waltz_ , Roxanne thinks—and then he's spinning her back again and they're stepping away like they had been before.

And she can't stop staring.

They spin, they twirl, Megamind's hands are steady and his movements are sure. The song is a slow one, so there's time to recover from occasional stumbles. "Where did you learn this?" Roxanne asks as they step easily around the sofa.

"Here and there," Megamind demurs, but Roxanne gives him a Look and he chuckles. "Villains have to know how to dance—it's all about presentation. And it's easier to dance without thinking when you know you can dance to anything."

"So you can tango, too?"

"Not very well, but yes." They turn a narrow circuit through the kitchen, Megamind pinching his lip between his teeth. "This would be a lot easier if your apartment was bigger. Here, glide with me—step, step, step—good. Try a dip?"

"S-sure, okay," Roxanne stammers.

"Keep your hand on my shoulder and your weight on your right leg. Ready…and one extra step to your right, now."

"Oop," Roxanne says, staggering a little as she finds herself bending backwards over Megamind's hand. She overbalances with the unfamiliar move and adrenaline crashes through her when her feet slide out from under her; she yelps, certain she's about to fall over backwards.

But there's a lot of strength in Megamind's wiry frame and he's done this before; he slips his hand down and his foot out and scoops her center of gravity into his before she gets very far. His grip on her hand is far from crushing, but it is iron-firm. "It's okay," he says, "you're okay."

 _Keeping the balance_ , Roxanne thinks, _still keeping the balance—_ "What am I doing wrong?" she asks, sounding a little strained, as she brings her feet back in.

"See if you can put the outside of your right foot next to my left instep. I've got you," Megamind assures her when she makes a dubious noise about moving any of her already-precarious footing, "don't worry. Tip your hips up a little and extend your left leg along my right. Yes, just like that, and arch your back instead of leaning from the hips…See?"

"'S harder than it looks." Nobody had ever told her that dips were all about supporting your own weight while making it look like your partner is doing all the work. At least she's not about to fall over anymore.

"And…up we go," Megamind says, tugging her upright, sounding pleased and only a little bit out of breath.

 _Nothing Else Matters_ is hardly a short piece, but it's nearing its end at this point. The fadeout will make dancing until the end of the song difficult even without a ritardando, so Megamind only takes a few more steps before spinning Roxanne away from him without making a move to catch her again; she's more than familiar with the song and doesn't need to be told the dance is over.

She drops her arms, rubs her palms on her jeans—not because they're sweaty, more to occupy her hands than for any other reason. "That," she says, heart still thumping in her ears from the rush of nearly falling, "was amazing."

"You dance well," Megamind tells her as the music fades away. He's pink all across his cheekbones and up to the points of his ears, but he looks otherwise self-satisfied.

"Except for the dip at the end," Roxanne reminds him, reddening. "I can't believe that was the part I got wrong, and not one of the funny spinny things earlier."

Megamind winces. He's still smiling, but he looks chagrined. "Yes, I should…probably apologize for that."

Roxanne shrugs. "Not your fault I fell over."

"I didn't explain how it would work, though, and I didn't realize…" Pinkish color splashes across his cheeks and up his ears as he spreads his hands. "It didn't occur to me that you'd trust me not to drop you. I-I thought you'd keep your own weight anyway, I never _dreamed_ you might…I should have told you how to do it," he finally finishes, blushing all the way down his neck, now. "It is sort of my fault."

Roxanne snorts. "It looks like my trust was well-placed," she says, folding her arms across her chest in spite of her good mood. She's still feeling shivery, which is weird because she's so _warm_. And tingly, like she's full of fire or lightning or something. It's the adrenaline. It must be. Shaking her head, she skirts around the sofa and drops onto it, hoping that will calm her nerves. "You didn't drop me."

Megamind's smile turns shy again for a moment. "Well," he says, ignoring this observation as he claims the orange wingback, " _other_ than that, you danced well."

"I had a good lead!" Roxanne exclaims. "Seriously, Megamind, where did you learn all that? Tell me. You _have_ to tell me."

Megamind groans. "You'll laugh."

"I won't," Roxanne promises, even though she already halfway is. This was all just so unexpected. Ballroom dancing was nowhere near her list of potential things Megamind might know how to do. Ballroom dancing has never even been in the same _room_ as the list. "Cross my heart, I won't laugh."

"Prom."

Roxanne blinks. For a moment, she thinks she's mis-heard; it wouldn't be hard, since the opening chords of _Crazy Train_ are on the loud side. "What?"

" _Prom_ ," Megamind repeats, nodding. He's still blushing furiously, rubbing the tips of his gray-gloved fingers against the odd tweed fabric of the armchair. "I was…nervous about prom. So, I made sure I would know how to dance. The warden taught me the foxtrot, and my uncle Chris taught me to waltz."

There are several new concepts accompanying that apparently innocent fact—one, Megamind went to prom when he was in high school, which is just the weirdest mental image. Two, the warden, with whom Roxanne is acquainted but doesn't know very well and has always thought of as a stodgy, boring sort of person, knows how to foxtrot _and taught Megamind_ ; and three, Roxanne has never thought of inmates as potentially knowing any ballroom dances.

"You're staring at me," Megamind observes, cocking his head. "What is the purpose of your face?"

Roxanne snorts at his phrasing and shakes her head, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "I…sorry, I'm trying to imagine you in a suit and it's just not working." She chuckles.

Megamind pulls back a little and wrinkles his nose in mild offense. "I'll have you know I look quite dashing in a suit."

 _I bet you do_ , Roxanne thinks. _With_ _that_ _shoulder-to-waist ratio?_ Oh _yes_.

"No, it's…I just can't believe _you_ went to prom."

Megamind bristles further. "Why not?" he asks.

Roxanne shrugs, still too amazed to really be sensitive about this. "It just doesn't seem like your style. It's not like I think nobody would have gone with you, or anything," she adds, almost as an afterthought.

He watches her for a moment, then gives a mollified nod. "You're right, it wasn't my style. And nobody _would_ go with me, so you'd have been right about that, too."

"I would've," Roxanne says without thinking, and Megamind looks up sharply.

Then he frowns. "You would _now_ ," he says. "Then…no."

"I don't know." Roxanne leans back, tilting her head, studying him with a critical eye. "I think if you'd asked me properly, I might have." Then, before he can respond to that, she asks, "If it wasn't your thing, why'd you even go?"

Megamind ducks his head a little, wearing a strange half-smile. It's not bitter, but it carries the sense that it _used_ to be very bitter indeed, once upon a time. Now it seems more wistful than anything. "I wanted it to be my thing," he admits. "I wasn't always so gong-ho about villainy. And Minion never was." His smile slips a notch as he looks away. "He loved this song, by the way."

"Minion didn't approve of your career choice? He always seemed perfectly happy to me."

Megamind shrugs. "He was supportive. I think he enjoyed it for the most part. But he worried about me," he continues, and Roxanne remembers the flashes of fear in Minion's eyes that always signified a close escape on Megamind's part. "Supervillains don't get happy endings, it's a fact of life. We've always known that." Then his smile comes back, and this time it's tight around the edges, truly bitter. "Case in point," he adds, gesturing at himself and then the room. "Me, alone, sans henchfish."

"You thought it would be you, didn't you," Roxanne murmurs.

Megamind shifts uncomfortably, rocking to pull one leg under him. "I was the one in the line of fire," he points out. "Oddly enough, it…never really occurred to me that Minion would have to go through…this."

Roxanne presses her lips together. It would have occurred to Minion.

"I wonder what he would have done," Megamind says, after a long moment.

Roxanne looks at him, sitting in her living room, very blue against the orange of her chair and frowning contemplatively at the floor, all sharp angles and long, clean lines. "I hope he'd have come to me," she says without thinking, and then, when Megamind's green eyes flash to her, she flushes. "I'd have done the same for him, you know. Maybe with a…a different…" _Sentiment_ , she thinks, swallowing against the sudden constriction in her throat, "utility, but he's as welcome to my brain as you are."

Megamind's lips twitch and he cants his head to the side. "You are remarkable," he tells her. "You know that? Wholly remarkable."

"Oh, come on," Roxanne says, coloring at the compliment because if Megamind says she's remarkable, well then. _Well_ then, but also _oh no_ , because she thinks she's just figured out why she feels like a storm cloud right before the rain starts. "I'm not that special."

"You are." He lifts his eyebrows a little, quirks the corner of his mouth. "What other woman on Earth would help us the way you have? Maybe without knowing who we were—I'll allow _someone_ might look past our appearance if we turned up on the doorstep as strangers—but after everything we put you through?" He shakes his massive head. "And yet. Here you are."

"Yep, here I am," Roxanne agrees. "Dancing to Metallica with my supervillain."

"Mmm. _Going off the rails on a crazy traain_ ," he hums.

Roxanne grins at him, then looks down at her hands. Smiling like he had a few minutes ago, his green eyes lit with excitement, his shoulders back and his head up, confidently asking her to dance—holding her in his arms, sure of himself—bending her back—gloved hand in hers—

 _Shit_ , she thinks.

"This was one of his favorite songs," Megamind says, startling her out of her reverie. There's an odd little smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"I can change it," Roxanne offers, but Megamind shakes his head.

"No," he says. "Leave it." He has to turn his head a bit in order to lean back in the high-backed chair, but he manages, his eyes slipping closed.

 _Emotionally unavailable_ , Roxanne tells herself. _Not fair to him, not fair to you, don't go there. Just don't_.

It's too late for that, she knows. So she swallows again, smiles thinly, and also tells herself that he's an alien, not even her species, not a smart match. She tells herself he has too much baggage. _We're friends_ , she thinks firmly. _Just friends. That's all_.

And the reason she's so worried about whether this thing with Minion will work has nothing to do with the fact that if she breaks Megamind's heart, she may as well break her own. Of course, that's not an issue. Ha.

 _It's not_ _fair_ , she thinks, her throat tightening as she watches Megamind's lips move to the lyrics. Minion might still be alive, and she can't tell him, and it feels like this vast _thing_ between them, and he doesn't even know.

And there's still so much she doesn't know—what the link with Minion is responsible for, why linking with her might be different, why Megamind's words have been coming faster and faster over the past few days. What Megamind wants in life, what his goals are, his dreams. They talk about the day-to-day pieces of life, but the past and future? No. Megamind shies away from thinking too hard about the past—understandably—and he doesn't seem to have it in him to plan for the future right now.

But he's easy to live with, and he really has become one of her best friends over the past couple months. It doesn't help that he's also handsome, in a fine-boned, wiry way, and he's starting to move with his old grace again…

She shakes herself away from this train of thought; it's not helping anything. _Crazy Train_ is ending, so she clears her throat and nods at the pieces of the electromagnet spread out on the floor at the foot of Megamind's bed. "So…you having trouble with the magnet?" she asks.

Megamind slits an eye open at her, then sighs and blinks a bit, turns forward to lean on his knees. "It's embarrassing," he says, staring over at the mess on the floor. "This is hardly the most complicated contraption I've built. I think I threw it together in an hour, start to finish." He shrugs narrow shoulders, shakes his huge head. "But now…it's just not working."

"Can I help?"

Brilliant-green eyes flick to her. "You help more than you know," he says.

Roxanne colors. "You know what I mean."

Megamind pinches his lips together, shakes his head again. "I'm missing a couple components that would increase its efficiency to the point that I'd need. I know what they are, but putting them together is another story." He huffs an irritated sigh. "If I knew what was wrong with me, maybe I could fix it, but…"

"This is one of the things Minion did, isn't it?" Roxanne asks.

"I guess so." He stands, rolling his shoulders. "There's a lot we never found out. It's not like we had time to learn much about it before we left—Minion was handed to me as the door to my pod was closing."

"When…" Roxanne starts to ask, then cuts herself off, uncertain if this is something it's safe to talk about or not.

"I was eight days old," Megamind says shortly. "I mostly spent it with my parents while they checked their math."

Eight _days?_ Roxanne stares at him, shocked.

"I used to think," he says after a moment's frowning thought, stepping over to the big glass doors to Roxanne's deck, "maybe it wasn't just me, maybe there were others. People who left before I did." He touches the glass, glances at his hands, then undoes the clasp on one of his gloves and tugs it off so he can roll his bare knuckles across the pane, rub his fingers against each other. He shoves the other glove into his pocket. "But my pod's tech was…rudimentary, at best. And if we'd had the math worked out to begin with, my parents wouldn't have been so wrapped up in checking their work."

Roxanne watches him flex his fingers, move his hand back and forth, cup the air streaming through the crack between the doors. With his hands in the gloves all the time, he must not get much tactile response. Even standing with his back mostly to her, as he is now, she can see him frowning when he turns his head.

Megamind doesn't know the backs of his own hands, Roxanne realizes. He takes the gloves off when he cooks, but he'd never cooked before she'd brought him home—he's gloveless when he sleeps, too, and maybe Roxanne wouldn't have believed that was the _only_ time he looked at his own hands, but she remembers that the first time he'd reached out to her was immediately after she'd brought him the gloves, and the only time he'd touched her bare-handed was when he'd been drunk, so…

He touches her with gloves—touches Minion behind glass—views the world from behind bars— _And this, the touching, this is okay?_

That's no way to live. That's no way to interact with the world.

Roxanne pushes herself to her feet and goes to stand with him at the glass, takes his hand before he can put his glove back on. Judging by how badly he startles, he must have been years away in his head.

He starts to pull away, but Roxanne doesn't let him. She presses against the back of his wrist and pushes her thumb up the middle of his palm, turns his hand to thread her fingers with his. Megamind lets her, though it takes him a few seconds to curl his fingers down over her knuckles. Roxanne runs the fingertips of her free hand over the tendons that shift under his skin when he squeezes a little. Then she straightens her fingers to get free, takes him by the wrist instead. Again, he lets her, though Roxanne can't stand to look at what happens to his expression when she brings his hand up and bends her head so his long fingers card into her hair.

She can feel how tense he is, he's almost vibrating with it, but he doesn't move his hand when she lets go of his wrist. "Th-this," he says, half-lifting his other hand, still gloved. "I…can I?"

He's only asking if he can use both, and Roxanne knows it, but she's not sure she can actually speak right now. She can't nod, either; his eyes are shining but there's still that awful tension in his shoulders like he's bracing himself, and Roxanne doesn't want to give him any reason to think she's pulling away from his touch. So she takes his hand instead, undoes the snap, works the leather off his skin. Megamind holds very still, watching her, but he scrunches his nose in a bewildered little grin when he finally sifts both hands in next to her scalp and combs outwards.

"I wish I knew what to tell you," Roxanne says quietly. He keeps fluffing the short strands as he bends his head to hers, but he doesn't say anything. It's a reassurance but Roxanne can't leave things there. "I wish I knew how to help. I'm so sorry," she says, and that's where she stops, because as much as she wants to apologize, she's not even sure what she's apologizing _for_ —not knowing how to help, and sorrow for his planet, for Minion, for her deception, for feeling glad in spite of everything that he'd come to Earth and found her here. For falling in love with him when he's feeling so unlike himself.

Megamind's hands still, and then his long fingers twist and clench in a way that really shouldn't feel as comfortingly solid as it does. "This is enough," he says, his naked hands in her hair, his heart in his mouth, their foreheads together. He closes his eyes. "This is enough."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 _The stars are back in position. They, too, keep time. A year has passed._

 _And how many years are behind him, and how many more lie ahead—years of eating, of sleeping, years of dreaming light and color, years of waking to shadowy weeds and emptiness._

 _Sometimes there are boats. These are interesting. Sometimes the boats drop items in the water—very rarely anything he can add to his list of resources, but he can use string and fishing wire._

 _They drop bottles, too. Glass. He's found others littering the bottom of the lake, various sizes, mostly green-colored. They aren't useful to him, but he brings them together, arranges them around his sleeping hut like spokes, their necks pointing outward._

 _Maybe it would have stopped there, but he keeps finding bottles. He brings them back to the sleeping hut—it's not home, it can't be—and arranges them another way, widens the circle, doubles the layer of spokes._

 _He spends his free time ranging farther and farther afield in search of more bottles and pieces of glass, and sometimes swims quick laps around his expanding yard to clear the silt. This is how it goes. He builds his nest, decorates it, defends it. He takes what he's given and nudges it into something he can use. Nothing fancy. But enough to impress._

 _The round fish move into some of the bottles. He considers this, decides he'll allow it. A ready food source is always welcome, and if he's careful, he can maintain their population._

 _He knows, as he always has, that decorating a nest in hopes of attracting attention is futile. But he persists. It's not much of a purpose, but it's his. And maybe someone will see the dull sparkle and realize he's worth bringing home._


	8. Chapter 8

I know, I missed last week and most of this one too. It was the holidays, my bad! The next couple chapters might also be a little later because I've got Life Stuff happening, but they'll be up.

This was…this was a difficult chapter. This chapter has all the emotions, all at the same time, and I am just scrambling to catch up. I did originally edit it so that it would be neater, but then the rest of the fic just seemed so forced, so I've put it back to how it was. I'll probably edit it when I'm putting it on my LiveJournal after the fic is complete. WE SHALL SEE. For now, I am going to lie facedown on the floor and whine a lot, because being a grown-up does not mean I have to act like one!

Big hugs for everyone!

(*lies facedown on the floor*)

(*whines a lot*)

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 8**

 **What About Everything – Carbon Leaf**

True to his word, Wayne takes Roxanne over to the empty Lair on Friday after work to look around and see if they can replicate what happened to Minion. It's too quiet in the Lair, almost eerily so. The massive generators that ordinarily power the place are in standby and the machines are dark. Everything is covered in several layers of dust, giving the whole space a kind of derelict feel.

But the creepiest part, as far as Roxanne is concerned, is the brainbots. Every other time she's been here, the Lair has been a hive of brainbot activity, but now they're lying scattered across every floor with their eyes shuttered and dust caked on their domes. Megamind's main room looks like a graveyard of the little cyborgs, which seems…deeply uncharacteristic; Roxanne had always assumed the bots would have docking stations somewhere.

She's not sure exactly when Megamind left, but it's clear he wasn't planning on returning.

Most of the Lair is more utilitarian than the show-slash-battle rooms Roxanne has seen before. In Megamind's workspaces—cluttered, but surprisingly open areas—the Tesla coils and blinky dials are replaced by tangles of wires and metal pipes. His only concession to decoration in these large workrooms seems to be the sheets of reddish cloth hanging from the high ceilings, draped over criss-crossed wires and coolant pipes. The rest of the space appears strictly dedicated to his work.

One of the largest rooms appears to be a catch-all for storage, development, and brainstorming. One corner houses two blackboards and a tangle of cobwebby strings hanging from the ceiling, each clipped to various pages, drawings, notes, and scraps of blueprints. Nearby, there's a drawing board with half of a huge sheet of white paper on it—the other half lies on the floor where he'd thrown it after ripping it away. This is a far cry from the matter disruptor's meticulously neat blueprints; Megamind's frenetic scribbles extend all the way to the corners of the page. Several similar sheets lie scattered on the floor. Roxanne swallows hard and moves on, looking at one of the stands of monitors.

It's not a viewscreen; those are made up of uniformly-sized monitors. This is more of a pile, constructed of screens of various sizes all stacked on top of each other. Some are partially hidden behinds others, and Megamind doesn't appear to discriminate based on age; the computer on the bottom looks like the one Roxanne's parents had in the mid-1980s, an IBM. Oddly enough, that's the only monitor she can see that has a keyboard hooked up to it.

"Come on, Roxie, we're burning daylight," Metro Man says when he glances back and sees her lingering, and Roxanne tears herself away and hurries across the floor to catch up to him.

"Not too big on drywall, is he?" she observes, glancing at the exposed ductwork and plumbing across the ceiling and what little she can see of the walls—most are obscured by heavy machinery, battlesuits in the process of being broken down, more blackboards, more faded red drapes, insulated cords, and wires, wires, wires.

Metro Man shrugs. "It's a fire trap either way," he points out. "Darn good thing he turned out the lights when he left. But something's still running, somewhere deep."

Roxanne glances up at him. "Power supply?"

"No. Near as I can make out, it's some kind of contained habitat. Fish and whatnot, filters, a big tank. It's in the city's power grid, so it didn't go down when he stopped the reactors."

Another surprise. "Reactors?"

He shrugs, holds a red curtain aside so Roxanne can walk through. "This whole place is nuclear. Well," he amends, "what doesn't run on tidal energy is nuclear."

Roxanne frowns. "The Great Lakes don't have tides."

"Sure, they do," Metro Man says, leading her down a dark hallway. "They're water. They're huge."

But Roxanne shakes her head. "They're still not big enough for true tides. The lakes have seiches, but those are different."

"Huh," Metro Man says, and steers her into a side room lined with rickety shelves, mostly empty except for a few odds and ends. The back wall is completely clear. He has to help her over the door; it's late enough in the day that the Lair is very dim, and the cold metal door is bent almost in half, only attached to the wall by its lower hinge. "Gun's in here. This area is reinforced, you can't see it, but I can."

"X-ray vision?" she guesses.

Metro Man grimaces. "Sort of. Not really. More of an energy thing." He's never been able to adequately explain all of what he is. The super-hearing, the x-ray and laser vision, his cooling breath: comic-book hero terminology. Oversimplifications. They allow the average citizen to feel like they understand him, that's all. They make Metro Man relatable, but they're not accurate terms.

He floats over to the boxy piece of equipment in the corner. "The reinforcements are wired in, they only kicked on when I hauled in the gas generator," he says, priming it and turning it on. Then he plugs in the electric bulb in its wire cage he'd been using for light earlier. Roxanne winces and shields her eyes from the sudden light as Wayne glances up and around the room. "Not sure how they're pulling ambient power from a gas generator, but there it is."

Roxanne looks at him, blinking a little. "So, it's not…vision? What is it, then?"

"Complicated," Metro Man replies, trying to brush it off—and usually, Roxanne is willing to take his word on this sort of thing.

Today, she hesitates. Then, slowly, she says, "Look, I want to understand this gun. If I understand the protective measures he put in place, maybe I'll be able to understand what went wrong and how to fix it."

Metro Man sighs. "I don't think this'll be much help."

"Try," Roxanne suggests. "It can't hurt, right?"

"It's just another force, Roxie. I dunno what it is, okay?" He rolls over in the air, testing the energy in the room again. He can see it, he supposes, but not with his eyes. "You don't have words for it in English. In any language. It's about midway between an electromagnetic field and contained barometric pressure."

Roxanne blinks at him. "So…it's a force field."

"Yeah. A force field," Metro Man says shortly. _Humans_. It's all just forces, to them—if they can't sense it, it doesn't matter. He's fine with that, for the most part, but it does get irritating when he wants to be understood.

"Okay," Roxanne says slowly. "What kind of force?"

Metro Man flips over and stares at her. Nobody asks what _kind_ of force field anything is. "Why," he says, "would you ask that?"

"Eh." She shrugs. She's standing in the middle of the room with one arm across her chest, chewing thoughtfully on one of the knuckles of her opposite hand and frowning at the gun rather than at him. "It seems relevant."

"It's not," he says. Something about the way she's holding herself doesn't sit well with him. "It's not relevant. It was designed to contain mistakes caused by a matter disruptor, okay? Which this gun isn't. Or shouldn't be. Look, I can…I can sense things you can't, okay?" he adds sharply, when Roxanne's blue eyes flick to him and her eyebrows lower like she's going to argue. "I just can. It's not _important_ , it's not _relevant_ , it's just—it's just how I'm built and I don't like talking about it. That's all."

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, okay, jeez," she says. "Touchy."

"Whatever." He changes the subject, forcing himself to ignore her stance and the way her lips turn down at the corners. "So, here's what happened when I was trying to work with it before…"

He aims the gun at the floor and lifts a sheet of scrap metal onto a shelf along the back wall, then goes back to the gun, re-aims it, and fires. There's a flash of light, a noise like _zZaAP_ , and the brand-new hole that appears in the middle of the scrap metal has smoking edges.

"Huh," Roxanne says. "Well, it's not back in time, I'm guessing from your tone."

"No, just vaporized," Metro Man says, turning. "I could tell if…nice glasses."

"Yes, I found them on the shelf by the door," she says with another shrug. "I imagine eye protection is probably important." She walks past him to run her hands carefully over the gun. It's half as big as she is and the barrel is wide enough that she could fit her whole head inside with room to spare. It also looks mostly finished—she has a good memory; if she's right, then the internal pieces are all where they should be. All that's missing at this point would be the decorative casing, but that wouldn't affect how it works.

"You said it needed more power?" she asks. "That's what went wrong?"

"I thought that's what happened, but you said he'd have surge protectors and you're probably right," Metro Man replies. "So I dunno what could've caused the different result. _Something_ must've; it can't just be a random occurrence."

Roxanne steps back, thinking. The storms wouldn't have caused an electrical surge; most of Megamind's power is separate from the main grid and he'd have been prepared for that. Nuclear and tidal power…but it can't be tidal. Storms…

 _Wait_. She stands up straight and spins on her heels, staring at Metro Man, who looks unaccountably spooked. "Why did you say this place has tidal power?"

"Because he's got some kind of rig on the lake floor," the startled hero tells her, blinking. "He has for years. It's a generator, a power source. I guess it's…say-sh, or whatever you said before."

That's new information. Roxanne doesn't ask how he knows what it is; it's probably forces again and she doesn't want him to get all weird. "Was it operational last July?"

"Yeah, last time I remember feeling it was…" He thinks for a moment. "Last…September, I think. Might've been October. Definitely after July, though. Why?"

"Because seiches surge," Roxanne says. "Especially after storms. If it's seiche power, if Megamind's setup is shallow enough and if the storms were big enough and had strong enough winds to cause a big standing wave, the resulting wave correction could have caused a power surge."

"That's…a lot of ifs."

"It'd have to be low-odds, for Megamind not to take it into account," Roxanne says. "You know he plans contingencies for everything."

Metro Man nods slowly. "Okay," he says. "So…you're saying…"

"I'm saying we're gonna need a bigger boat," she says, grinning. "Or generator, in this case."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

It takes them a while, but Wayne's natural affinity for fourth-dimensional shenanigans helps a lot, and the two of them manage to get some results in only a couple hours. But it's odd. It's nothing like what the gun was doing prior to their success and it's nothing like what Roxanne was expecting based on the power Metro Man is pumping into it.

At this point, Wayne has the gun's power source hooked up to his eye-lasers—or whatever they really are—via a headset Megamind had used on him once. Back then, the idea was that Metro Man could only escape using his lasers, but using his lasers meant he'd power up a seismic device set to sink Metro City below lake level. Roxanne's reasoning is that if Metro Man's lasers are strong enough to restart volcanic activity under the Midcontinent Rift System, they absolutely pack enough punch to power the reset button.

And with a little help from Google and a call to a local electrician, she finds it surprisingly easy to rewire the headset's converters and power system into the matter-disruptor instead of the seismographier, ground it, and fire it up.

But when she pulls the trigger, there's no laser beam, no flash of light, no sound. Just a perfect circle vanishing out of another bit of scrap metal, and the sense that her ears popped. She jumps when the empty circle appears, and then looks up at Wayne, expecting him to be excited.

But he's frowning as he pushes the goggles up onto the rest of the headset. "Hmm," he says.

"Hm?" she echoes. "That's all you've got to say? We just sent a chunk of metal back in time, and you say 'hm?'"

"You…don't know that's what happened," he mumbles, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I don't see what else it could have been," Roxanne says. "If it was just…dissolved, or vaporized, or something, there would've been some kind of release of energy." She hurries forward—Wayne yelps and quickly points the tripod-mounted gun back down at the floor—and puts her hand directly on the curved edge of the metal. It's as smooth as glass and as cool as the rest of the room. "It's not hot, and there was no light, so it wasn't destroyed. _You_ _said_ we couldn't send stuff forward in time, so it must have gone back."

Wayne nods, still looking unsettled by Roxanne's apparent disregard for her safety. "I…yeah, okay. I mean…of course it did. I guess you probably didn't see the bridge matrix." He sighs and pulls the headset off, sets it carefully on the empty shelf by the door. "Get out of range, would you?"

"You already knew it worked," Roxanne accuses, backing up. "You saw it."

"Yeah," he admits. "And we're moving forward at the same temporal speed as Minion. Okay. Okay, I can…I can work with this. I think. Maybe."

Roxanne watches him closely. He still looks like there's something wrong. "You sure?"

"Well, I _want_ to be sure, but I dunno know why I even know all this," he grumbles. "Or how."

She shakes her head. " _How_ doesn't matter, as long as you know it. If you can…if you can figure out some kind of anchor, then we could send something back for Minion to grab onto! We could pull him back into his future."

Wayne purses his lips. "An anchor?"

"They make sea anchors, don't they? Like that. But for…for time, instead, I guess?" This is the most exciting thing to happen to her since Megamind turned up, but even as she says it, she's trying to think of what they'd need. "An anchor in time," she murmurs. "Something to hold onto, something…like…" She's got nothing. _A time anchor? I've lost my mind_.

"It's worth trying," Wayne says, frowning at the gun again. "But…Roxie, I just do the math, okay? I don't invent stuff. Especially not stuff like this."

"We'll figure something out," she says immediately. Concerns about her own sanity notwithstanding, they did just disappear a big piece of metal, and Wayne _did_ just say it worked. "There must be something we can do. You know all about this, right? Inside-out and backward."

Wayne shakes his head. "Yeah, but making something that'll reflect what I know? I can't do that."

"Of course you can," she replies, but her heart is already sinking. She can see where this is going.

"Can _you?_ " Wayne says, sharp. "Can _you_ invent something that'll withstand a time machine? 'Cause you and me are on the same level, there."

Roxanne swallows. "I converted that headset so it would power a time machine," she points out in an uncharacteristically small voice. "I'm…sure I could figure something else out. Let's not make any rash decisions, here."

Wayne squares his shoulders. "We're gonna have to bring the little guy in on this."

"No," she says. "No. We can't."

"Roxie—"

" _No!_ " She shakes her head. "If we're wrong, he…I can't give him that kind of hope and be wrong. We can't do that to him, Wayne; do you even hear yourself?"

"Yeah, but Roxie, we can't do this on our own," he insists, equally flatly. "We _need_ him."

She opens her mouth to say _no_ again, but…

Well, he's not wrong.

But _tell Megamind?_ They can't. This could destroy him. And he'll be furious, either way, because he's just starting to feel better, he's just started to come out of his shell and move forward. This will set him right back to denial. And he'd said, himself, he wouldn't want to know something like this unless it's a sure thing.

"I'm sorry," Wayne says again.

"What if," she says slowly, "what if we sent a brainbot back with another one of those reset button thingies? The brainbot could find Minion. Give him…I don't know, a letter or something, just so we're sure he knows what's going on. And then…could you build a reset button that connects to the one in that gun? If you can hold that one in place and activate both of them at the same…uh, not the same time, but on the same frame or whatever it was…would that work?"

"Sure," Wayne says, sounding like he's losing patience, "but I don't know how to build one that connects the way you're talking about. And I don't want to get this wrong. We might only get one shot at this."

Roxanne bites her lip. As much as she wants to keep arguing, deep down, she knows he's right. And it makes her stomach turn. "I just…"

"We need him," he says again, and Roxanne can't stand it, she can't.

" _I_ need him," she shoots back, desperate and trying to think of something else. Wayne shakes his head, looking disgusted, and turns away. "He's—he's my best friend and I love him, and I—"

Wayne whips back around; startled, Roxanne stops talking and blinks at him. "You think I _want_ to do this to him?" he snarls, spreading his hands. "Do you think I'm happy about this? No! I hate this!" And he does; she can tell; for once, he looks about as frantic as she feels. "But we—we can't do this alone! We _need him_ , and you know that, so _why_ _are you_ _still arguing?_ "

Oddly enough, the visual confirmation that he's taking this seriously makes Roxanne feel better about the whole thing. Not good, but better. She rubs a hand back through her hair, takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly, forcing herself to stop. He's right. "Okay. Okay."

"I'm sorry," he says, and he really does look it. "I get it. I don't want to hurt him, either, but…he's our best chance. He's our only chance."

"No, I know," she sighs. "It's…it's okay. Just…how do we tell him?"

He sends her an unhappy grimace. "You know he's not gonna take it from me."

Roxanne stares at him. "You want me to do this _alone?_ "

" _I'm sorry_ , I really _really am_ ," he says quickly, "but—you have to be the one to do it. He hates me. He won't believe me, he'll think I'm making fun of him. About _Minion_. Can you even imagine how he'll respond to that?"

"And if you're there as moral support when I do it, I've betrayed him," Roxanne sighs. "Okay. Okay. Just…how do I even…"

Wayne shakes his head. "I don't know, Roxie. Just…make sure he's sitting down, I guess."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She takes her time putting her things away when he drops her off at home—at ground level, so Megamind will remain unaware of the hero's involvement. She goes to the kitchen in a half-daze, still trying to think of a way to broach the subject that won't immediately send Megamind into shock. She doesn't have much luck, but that's not surprising; she hadn't had any luck on the ride home, either, and Wayne hadn't been any more help.

She doesn't realize how out of it she probably looks until Megamind puts a gloved hand over hers on the handle of the pan she's just put on the stove, and then she suddenly notices that there's an egg in her other hand, for some reason, and she's not sure how long she's been staring into the middle distance.

She looks at Megamind, who raises his eyebrows and tips his head at her, gently questioning, wordless. Even with their new link, it looks like some things take time to change.

"No, I'm okay, I just…" She sets the egg down on the counter and swallows. "Megamind. I'm…" She puts her hands on his shoulders, realizes they're shaking, wonders when she started caring this much. She moves her hands to his face instead, sees his eyes go wide just before she closes hers and pulls him in. She presses her forehead against his, hoping maybe this will ground her, maybe she'll absorb something useful from his enormous brain from sheer proximity.

She doesn't. Again, that's no surprise. "Megamind," she says again, trying to keep her throat from getting tight. Failing. "I need to talk to you."

"All right," he says, and raises tentative hands to her cheeks as well, mirroring her touch. "You can do that. Like…like this?"

She shakes her head. "No. We should sit down."

Reluctantly, Megamind steps back. "The couch, then," he suggests, and Roxanne nods.

"Yes," she agrees. "Yes, the couch."

It isn't any easier when they're seated on the sofa. Damn. She's still waiting for a flash of inspiration, but all she has when they're finally sitting down and Megamind is staring at her with his whole face full of worry is, "I'm so sorry. In advance. Please, just listen, just…try to let me finish, okay?"

Megamind gives a slow nod, and Roxanne pinches her lips together so hard they go white before she says, "Okay. God, I…I've been standing here for a week trying to figure out how to tell you—if I even _should_ tell you—I can't, you _said_ , you…" Long hands settle over hers but she jerks back, then rubs her fingers into her eyes, heedless of her makeup, so she doesn't have to look at how nervous Megamind is. "Minion's alive," she says. There. Just spit it out. "We think. Metro Man and I."

Megamind doesn't say anything, and Roxanne doesn't look at him.

"We found your notebook, the gun, your blueprints, the engine thing for the reset button," she says, speaking quickly into her palms now, feeling sick. "I don't know if you know this, but Metro Man does things with…um, spacetime? And he thinks—and I agree, after he explained your math—we think Minion is still alive, maybe. We think the gun sent him back in time." She takes a deep breath and finally risks a glance at Megamind. His eyebrows are low over his eyes, and there are deep lines around his mouth. The color is draining out of his face.

That's not encouraging, but she rushes on, closing her eyes and tilting her head back so the lights shine red through her eyelids. "Th-the gun, if it gets enough power, it's not a matter disruptor. It's a time disruptor. There was a…a surge in the seiche-power generator, and the Minkowski thingy worked with another thing and it made a, um, a cascading Einstein-Rosen bridge?" It's probably the most simplified explanation she can give while still being accurate. "So, we think Minion's somewhere in our past. The problem is, though," she continues, swallowing hard, "we're not sure how to get him back. I thought maybe we could make some kind of time-anchor, something to hold onto here, and we could…send the other end back for Minion to grab onto. But we…"

"How?" Megamind breathes, and Roxanne looks at him again. He's white as a sheet, now, white to the lips. "How did I miss that?"

"It's not your fault—"

"It _is_ my fault!" he says, recoiling in disgust. "I…I didn't take the compounding frequencies into account, I didn't allow for Gaussian dissonance, I didn't even realize there would _be_ any! And Minion…no." He goes, if possible, even paler. "Th-this means…then, it wasn't a fluke." His eyes are wide. "It was…it was _me_. I missed something and he's gone and it wasn't a fluke, it was my fault."

"Megamind," Roxanne says urgently. "We can get him back."

"I _tried_ already!" he snarls, jerking away and rising to his feet in the same angry motion. "I can't, I can'tbelieve this." He turns in a small, helpless circle, then faces Roxanne, his eyes blazing. "You've known about this _for a week_ ," he grits out. "And. You. Didn't say. _You_."

"You said you wouldn't want to know," Roxanne begins.

"Whether I _want to_ is not _important!_ " His voice is sharp when he cuts her off, but suddenly he jumps and looks around like he's just been electrocuted. "I have to—I have to go, I have to—to find—"

"Megamind, just hold on, okay?" Roxanne stands, reaches to put her hands on his shoulders, but his expression slams back to flat anger and he shoves her away.

"Don't _touch_ me," he hisses, "don't you dare, don't you _dare_."

"But you _said_ ," Roxanne says again, helpless, returning to the one argument she can safely make. " _You said_ , not unless you could be sure. And we _weren't_ sure. We still aren't." But he'd been in a different frame of mind when he'd told her that. He'd been calm, then, trying to figure out how to move forward, how to not fall into his old pattern of thinking, but now…

"If I did it, then I can undo it," he snaps. "That's certainty enough for me. How do you—how _dare_ you not—"

" _No_ ," Roxanne insists, appalled, thinking furiously. "What kind of…Megamind, even you have limits." What narrative has he fed himself, what's going through his head? How did he leave the Lair? Was it only because he'd convinced himself that the accident with Minion was a fluke and _that_ was why he couldn't reverse it? Because he hadn't caused it? It certainly sounds that way.

"I was trying to solve a different problem than the one at hand, that's all," Megamind says, his face going totally, frighteningly flat for a second. "If I'd kept trying, I would have—

"No, no, stop," he cuts himself off, eyes widening, and he lifts a shaking hand to the side of his head. Roxanne thinks she might know, now, what he'd meant when he'd told her she looked blurry around the edges. "No. Stop. I _can't_ , I…"

His confliction is terrible to watch; he turns away, squeezing his eyes closed, shaking his head like it hurts him, breathing hard through his nose. "Can't go down that road again," he hisses. "It won't. _Work_. It won't work. Minion's gone. Minion's _gone_ —"

There's a high-pitched series of whining, whistling clicks that make Roxanne jump. It takes her a moment to realize the sound had come from Megamind, but he looks at her before she can ask what they were. "Why?" he demands. "Why would you _tell_ me this, why would you…you knew what this would do to me, you had to know."

"Because I don't know how to build something that will reel through _time itself_ ," she says, unsure if the pleading note in her voice is an attempt to apologize, calm him down, or ask him not to be angry. She hopes it's an apology; he has every right to be angry and there's nothing that will calm him down, not about this. "And neither does Metro Man. He understands the math involved, which is great, because I cannot comprehend how it works, but he doesn't build things. If we're going to do this, we need your brain." She can't tell if she should try to convince him that there's a solution or that his entire thought process is flawed and he shouldn't blame himself. She suspects the former will be easier than the latter. _Focus on the solution_.

Megamind stares at her for a long moment, breathing hard, and then he suddenly wrenches himself around and faces the door, his shoulders stiff.

"Megamind," Roxanne says. "Please, I…"

He holds up a hand to stop her, then drops his head, shakes it hard, squeezes his fingers into a fist so tight that even the broken-in leather creaks. Then he rounds on her. He opens his mouth to speak, but chokes on his rage, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

Roxanne stands without thinking and reaches for him, drags him into a crushing hug. "I'm _sorry_ ," she says to the wall behind him. "I'm so _sorry_ , Megamind. I didn't want to tell you, but…"

He puts his hands on her upper arms, moves her firmly away from him. "Miss Ritchi," he says quietly. "Listen to me very carefully. Minion is dead." He swallows. "He's _not coming back_. I don't want to hear about this. I don't care what you do with quatrilinear vectors or transtemporal synchrony on your own time, but I am through trying to solve this."

"You can't give _up_ ," she begins, but Megamind's expression is stormy and the tears dump down his cheeks.

"Yes," he says. His voice when he interrupts her this time is utterly steady. "Yes, I can. Minion is dead." His gaze flicks back and forth between her eyes. "And thank you, so much, for proving that it was my fault. I _so_ needed that." He drops his hands, steps back. "I'm going to bed. There's a ham sandwich for you in the refrigerator."

Roxanne wants nothing more than to let him go so she can just sit on the sofa and cry for a while, but there's no way this will end well if she does that. She catches his elbow when he tries to brush past.

"No," she says, suddenly sharp. "Megamind, you son of a bitch. I am trying to _help_. Don't you _dare_ throw this in my face."

"We're not talking about this." He tugs on his arm, trying to pull out of her grasp. "I'm not talking to you."

"We _are_ talking about this," Roxanne tells him, "because we're adults. And I know you're not okay, but _what if there's hope?_ " She stares at his face, trying to read his expression, but he's briefly managed to close himself off. "What if?"

Megamind looks at her for a moment, and then his features twist. He jerks away from her and takes three steps back, suddenly snarling. "You have _no idea_ how long it took me to _make myself_ _stop trying!_ Do you know what—what giving up on _Minion_ felt like? _Do you?_ "

"No, of course I don't, but I…"

Megamind's whole body is alive with motion, like he wants to run, like he wants to leap forward and lash out, like he doesn't dare. "No!" he shouts. "No, you _don't!_ But I _had to!_ Or I was going to work myself to _death!_ And now you're telling me it was the _reset button that did it?_ "

"Megamind, will you _let_ me finish a _sentence!_ " Because, okay, screw being patient and understanding; that's obviously not working. And as much as she wants to be patient and understanding, Megamind is a person who does nothing halfway, who lost a piece of his mind, who forced himself to choose between figuring out how to live or continuing to try and find his friend, because he couldn't do both. He's in a dangerous mindset right now, and Roxanne is pretty sure she can get him out of it, but not if he won't listen to her. _I shouldn't have said that about not giving up_ , she chastises herself inwardly. _Shouldn't have focused on the solution when I did_. "Youcouldn't have known there was a chance," she says, switching tacks. "This isn't your fault, you shouldn't have kept trying. You couldn't have known."

"Why not?" he asks, so coldly that she'd swear the temperature in the room just dropped. " _You_ did."

"Because I'm not in _pain!_ " She stares, hoping some of this will get through to him. "Losing Minion cut part of your mind off. And you—you were in shock, you weren't thinking clearly and— _shut up_ and listen to me!" she snaps when he opens his mouth to argue again. "That's not…that's not weakness or some kind of deficiency. It's _not_ your fault. You couldn't know, it wasn't possible."

He stares back for a second, chest heaving with fury, then grits out, " _Anything_ is possible for me. If I just. Try harder."

"Try _harder?_ " She can't believe her ears. "Try… _try_ harder? Megamind, you did your best!"

Megamind's eyes flash. "And, as usual, my 'best' wasn't good enough. Clearly, I gave up too soon. I should have kept going. I would have had a breakthrough eventually."

" _No!_ " Roxanne cries. She reaches for him but he tears himself away again, his face twisting. "Sometimes our best _isn't_ enough! It _sucks_ , but that's not your _fault_ , that's _life!_ You can make no mistakes and _still lose_ , and _that's_ not your fault, _that's_ _life!_ "

" _Then I should have died_ ," he snarls. She falters, blinking. "I should have kepttrying, and if it killed me, then I should have _died_ trying! If that's life, I don't want it!" He bares clenched teeth, nostrils flaring, the tendons in his neck standing in sharp relief. "It was _Minion!_ "

"Megamind," Roxanne says after a stunned pause. "Can you hear yourself."

He growls and spins on one heel, then stalks towards the kitchen, heading for a glass of water. Roxanne follows him, her thoughts tangled, her heart aching, but all she can think is: he must know everything she's saying is true. He must, on some level. Or he wouldn't still be here. He knows, but he doesn't believe it. He _must_.

She grits her teeth, reminds herself that they're bound to each other and he can't just leave and never come back, and swallows the fear that she might send him running. Megamind's inner critic is made of tougher stuff than Roxanne had realized, but Roxanne is tougher. As strong as he is, Roxanne will be stronger.

"You _know_ it makes better sense to stop trying, wait until the time is right, and succeed." She knows she's right, and she's proud that she manages to keep her voice from shaking. "Beating yourself into exhaustion over something you can't do anything about? That's never been your style."

Megamind scoffs in the back of his throat but doesn't turn around. "My style? That's everything I've ever done! And the point is, there _was hope_ ," he adds flatly. "It was there and I missed it. I failed. I failed Minion."

"You haven't failed him yet," Roxanne begins, but Megamind interrupts again.

" _You_ haven't failed him." He slams the cupboard open hard enough to bounce it closed again. "I did. I gave up."

"You can't impose ideology on grief," Roxanne says quietly. "That's not how it works."

"Oh no?" he asks without looking at her, his tone mocking. "If your sister had been alive on the ground but you ran for home without checking to see if she was alive, and you found out later you could have saved her but you _didn't_ , how would _you_ feel?"

"At the time, probably like you're feeling now," Roxanne tells him evenly. Okay, that one stung, but he'll have to do a lot better than that if he wants to dissuade her. "But, later…I'd like to think that later, I'd be able to accept that I can't blame myself for the decisions I make while panicking. Panic throws off your perception of…everything. It's not something you can control. And it's not something you should blame yourself for."

He turns his head and finally looks at her, amazed and angry. "You really believe that."

"Drink some water."

"Don't tell me what to do," he mutters, but he pulls a glass down from the cupboard and fills it up at the sink anyway, downs it in one go and refills it. "I can't believe this," he remarks, his voice still flat and wounded as the tap runs. "A time-disruptor. The reset button…? No. _No_. The science is impossible. You're asking me to revisit something that…that I still can't forgive myself for."

"I know Minion is special, but it's okay to give up—"

"Forget Minion, I'm talking about the _fucking reset button!_ " Megamind's voice rises to a shout, followed by ringing silence. He grips the sink with both hands, leans heavily on his elbows, waiting for the question he knows is coming.

Roxanne hesitates. "What…are you…?"

"Miss Ritchi, I called it the reset button for a _reason_ ," he says, sounding tired. "It was supposed to let me send a message. A warning. But there was a side effect. I knew it was there, it was in the math, clear as day—reset."

"Because…there's only one universe?"

"Only in a very specific sense." Megamind draws a shaky breath, shifts his weight slightly. "It would have worked. It would. The Minkowski-Hinton reconciliation device was only part of the reset button I had in mind."

Behind him, Roxanne is quiet for a moment. Then she says, "I don't understand. You…didn't build it?"

"There are multiple timelines spinning off every variable, an infinity of universes, each a little different," Megamind says dully. "The reset button would have collapsed every adjacent universe developed since that point. The Minkowski-Hinton reconciliation device doesn't work like that, thank the Higgs boson. But," he adds, sounding bitter, "I suppose it worked in the end."

"And…"

"I could have saved everyone." Megamind still sounds flat, but his knuckles are white where he's hanging onto the sink. "I could have saved _everyone_. My world. My family. My people and Minion's, and Metro Man's. Minion would never have died. I would never have come to this…" He trails off, then spits, " _Planet_. But the cost would be the destruction of every adjacent universe since, and everything—every _one_ —in them."

Roxanne is silent for a long few seconds. And then she sighs. "You're deflecting again."

Megamind slowly turns his head. " _Excuse_ me?"

"You're deflecting," she says, "and I'm calling you on it. You couldn't save your planet in this timeline, and that burns you, and I'm sorry, but _you built_ the Minkowski-Hinton piece. So, don't tell me that's why you're really upset, here. We're talking about Minion."

Megamind turns fully around. He'd sounded calm enough before, but his lips are white, his eyes are glassy and his pupils pin every time he inhales. He is livid. "Miss Ritchi," he says, "don't presume to tell me my thoughts. I am upset because the device I laid aside to avoid committing multidimensional genocide _still_ resulted in the destruction of my best friend and only family." Every word is clipped, precise. "I am _upset_ because I failed to perceive this fact, and I am _upset_ because I failed to perceive that the same device could have brought him back."

"No," Roxanne says, "you're not." Megamind's eyes widen, and _oh_ , if looks could kill, she would be dead. Possibly twice. But she continues anyway, because Megamind isn't the only one who's pissed off, and because she's right. "Those are valid observations, but they're not why you're upset. You're upset because you blame yourself for those failures. And I _presume_ because you're ignoring that, and that's _ridiculous_. You are _not to blame for this_."

Megamind stares at her, breathing shallowly, but whether he's too angry to speak or just stunned at Roxanne's audacity, she isn't sure. She keeps going, either way. "I love your tenacity, Megamind. I really do. And I love that you never back down from impossible odds. It's your best quality. And I'm—I'm so sorry you had to choose between who you are and working yourself literally to death. You made the right choice," she insists, and Megamind bows his head a little. Roxanne takes a step forward. "But _now_ , there _is_ hope. Please don't turn your back on it."

His head snaps back up. "I'm not turning my back on it!" His voice goes tight with pain and he bares his teeth as he bites the words out. "I'm angry, I'm scared, I'm trying to believe you but _it's not working_ —" He closes his mouth with a snap, his lips twisting, and smacks her hand away when she extends it towards him.

Roxanne swallows. "Please, let me touch you? I'm worried."

"I don't _need you_ to worry about me," Megamind starts, but Roxanne cuts him off as her own ire flares before she can stop it.

" _Someone_ has to!" For some reason, that makes him pull his head back and blink at her, makes some of the fire leave his eyes. "Lord knows, you won't worry about yourself. Listen," she adds, reeling herself in and holding up her hands in what she hopes is a placating gesture, "I'm not saying you aren't allowed to feel bad about this. You…you feel whatever you feel. I'll help you deal with that however I can. I'll…I'll be your steady brain, and I'll tell you all this for as long as it takes until you _do_ believe it, but right now, you need to please listen, _please_ be the guy who never gives up _just one last time_."

"Someone has to," Megamind repeats, and Roxanne wonders if that's all he'd heard. "Minion says that. _Said_ that. All the time."

"Well, he's right," Roxanne says, and stares at him.

Megamind stares back, and then his expression twists again. "I don't understand you," he says, his voice like ice. "Miss Ritchi, people like you don't do things like this for people like me. You _just don't_."

Roxanne pulls back a little and blinks at him, then looks annoyed. "If this is another 'what do you want from me' thing, Megamind, I am going to scream." She steps forward and Megamind backs quickly away, but she just wrenches the cupboard open and pulls down a glass for herself. "Deflecting again? Really?"

"Well?" he says, daring her to argue. "You've done so much for me already in spite of our prior relationship, I've done nothing in return, and now you're even trying to give Minion back to me. I don't get it."

"We've been over this." She swats open the tap, shoves her glass under like she's got a grudge against it. "But—fine! By all means! Let's do it again. Megamind, _I don't want a goddamn thing_." She turns back to face him and gulps some water, but it doesn't calm her nerves the way she'd hoped it would. "Will you let it go, already?"

"You expect me to believe that?" Megamind hisses as Roxanne raises her glass again. "Don't patronize me."

And Roxanne finally loses her temper.

She chokes, slams her glass down on the counter hard enough to slosh half the remaining water over the side, and cries, "I _care_ about you!" as soon as she's managed to swallow. Megamind jerks back, startled at her sudden change in tone.

"I don't 'expect' anything, whether you believe me or not," Roxanne continues before Megamind can find words to reply. She's gone pale under her freckles and her voice is shaking. "I am doing this because I care about you, you stupid alien! You think I'd still be trying to get through to you if I didn't care about you? No! I wouldn't be! It would be _so easy_ for me to just give the hell up right now, but _I'm_ _not going to do that_ , because I care about your stupid blue ass. And I will be damned before I stand by and watch you tear yourself in half, but damn, Megamind, you could at least _try_ to make it a _little easier_ for me!"

Water from the counter drips onto her leg and Roxanne makes an ugly scoffing sound and turns, grabs some unknown number of paper towels off the roll so she can mop furiously at the counter, still yelling. "This is _difficult!_ and _draining!_ and I've had to rearrange my work schedule for the next _three days_ so I'll have time to try and figure out how to do the _one thing_ I can think of that might actually help you. But _you_ ," she continues, aiming a finger at him as her volume rises, "you've worked yourself into a hole! And you _won't_ listen, and every time I make a decent point, you go _running off in some other direction!_

" _But_ _I'm still trying!_ " She throws her hands in the air even as she crouches to wipe off the water dripping down the cabinets. "And I'll keep trying! Because it kills me to see you so low!" She's almost screaming now, blinking rapidly, trying not to cry. "And if I can do _anything_ to help with that, _anything_ , I'll _do_ it! What else am I supposed to do? Megamind, what _else_ do you want me to do?"

Megamind slowly sinks onto one of the island chairs, staring at her, lips parted and eyes wide and halfway trembling again. "But," he says. "Why would you…"

"Why _would_ I? Megamind, _Jesus_ _Christ_ ," she shrieks as she stands back up, "why _wouldn't_ I?" If Megamind was livid before, Roxanne is absolutely incandescent now. "You don't want things _from_ people you care about, you want things _for_ them. And I want for you to be _happy_ again! I—I want for you to have—to have what you need, everything you need, I want for you to be able to heal." She stuffs the paper towels into the garbage, then rakes her hand through her hair, half-crying and desperate to make him understand. "And, just so you know? I really, really wanted to be able to just show up here, at home, with Minion for you. But I _can't_ , Megamind, I _can't!_ I don't know _how!_ And for all we know, Minion is alive out there somewhere and he needs you! I know you're mad, and God, it's okay; I don't blame you for being mad; I knew you'd be mad when I started tonight, but please, just tell me you'll _help!_ "

"I…I'll try, of course I'll try," Megamind whispers. He'd never intended otherwise. Hadn't even realized there was a question involved.

Roxanne stares at him for a moment, breathing hard, then takes a deep breath and seems to deflate somewhat. "Thank you." She shakes her head, scrubs a hand down her face. There are dark smudges around her eyes where she'd rubbed them earlier, her hair is a mess, and Megamind is pretty sure she's the most beautiful person he's ever seen.

"W-will you," he begins suddenly, and then stops. He pulls his brows low over his eyes and draws himself in, and then draws himself up in a way he knows is defensive but he can't help it; he's just exploded at her, he'd been very very angry and he hadn't hidden it, and how dare he ask for anything rightnow? But he has to ask anyway, and maybe she'll even say yes. He's not sure what his heart is doing but he thinks it might be breaking; even if she does say yes, that won't mean things are okay between them anymore.

And that's why his shoulders are squared and his spine is stiff when he says, "Roxanne, w-will _you_ …help _me?_ Pick up the pieces? Because this…this isn't…I'm not…" He swallows hard and tries to explain, hoping it will help somehow. "I'm…I can do anything. Anything I put my mind to. My whole life, that's all I ever…I lived by that.

"But this, losing Minion, I couldn't. But now you're saying I could have, and I…just…" He trails off. This isn't helping. Roxanne is just looking at him. Megamind has gotten pretty good at reading people over the past few months, better than he ever was before. Now that he's calmer, he can easily see that Roxanne is tired and upset and really not in the mood to be understanding right now.

But then she sighs. Swallows. Seems to push her anger aside. "Megamind," she says in a controlled sort of voice, "no one is saying you could have done more." She approaches him slowly, even more slowly takes his face in her hands and touches her forehead to his, the way she had before this whole horrible discussion even started. "I know that's what you're hearing, but—but it's not what I'm saying. You did everything you could." She nods a little against his skin, nuzzles from side to side across the wide front of his skull, and okay _maybe_ Megamind is not as good at reading Roxanne as he thought. This is not how someone who's tired and upset is supposed to respond. "And yes, of course, I'll help. Like I said, I do care about you, and I'm still _fucking_ trying. You know that."

"I…I suppose I do," he admits, his eyes downcast. Maybe that's why she's not reacting right. Reactions change when you aren't acting in your own self-interest. "But. I'm a difficult man to care for." He pulls his mouth into a half-smile, adds softly, "Minion could tell you."

Roxanne pulls back after a few moments and watches him fidget with the hem of his shirt, then risks a little smile of her own. "I noticed that," she agrees lightly. "But I can be a pain in the butt, too, so don't worry about it." She pulls out a chair of her own and sits down beside him, suddenly tired. "Look, we'll get through this, okay? I'm sorry for hiding it from you and I know you're all freaked out, but…one way or another, I'm with you."

His eyebrows twitch together. "I don't deserve it."

Roxanne just sighs again and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Megamind gulps a little. "Roxanne," he says. "Give me your hands?" She sends him a look, but holds them out anyway. He takes them, frowning down at gray leather and pink skin.

Then he looks up at her and takes a deep breath through his nose, tries to find words to fit the feeling tangling in his heart and stomach. It's hard. He's spent so long not saying anything, and even in spite of their link, the words elude him. He forces words out in spite of this, hoping they're the right ones, because he owes her this much. He owes her much more than this.

So, what he says, for the first time, is, "Please. Understand. I have always been alone. My life…" He struggles for a moment, searching again for words. It's made even harder by the fact that _he doesn't talk about this_. Has, in fact, spent most of his time trying not to even _think_ about this. "In my life, I never believed…there would be anyone but Minion. I never thought I could…have…any of what you're offering. I don't…" The words escape again. _Crap_.

Roxanne shakes her head. "What? Support? A home? People who care for you?"

Megamind presses his lips together. "When I was a child. Yes. But I burned those bridges a long time ago; I can't go back, and I thought…no one but Minion would _ever_. So. All these things, I didn't…I didn't understand. I dared to get comfortable here." He scowls. "I felt…when I didn't think about it, I felt like I could stay. But when I _did_ think, I…I knew I couldn't possibly, because…well. It _couldn't_ be permanent, but you acted like it was, so I was…confused? Angry," he admits. "When you talked about me having a room, finding a new place to live, where I could be alive too.

"And now. This. With Minion. I'm scared. I'll need help. If…if this doesn't work…" He looks up at her, trailing off, then gulps and shuts his eyes again. "This is me. Asking. Please. I don't know what I'm afraid of, but I'm…I…"

"Megamind, it's okay."

He shakes his head, tries a different way. "You care. You do. I don't know why—I don't understand _—_ what makes you different. But you should know…I should tell you." He rolls his shoulders back and straightens his spine again. "If this…thing with Minion does work, I will owe you for the rest of my life. Or your life. Whichever ends first."

"Stop," Roxanne says, wide-eyed in spite of herself, " _Megamind_ , don't."

"If it doesn't work, then…" He manages a short laugh. "Then I will be a mess. And I'm asking you, please. Please keep trying then, too. I'm…difficult, and draining, I know, and I'm…sorry."

"That wasn't what I—"

But he pushes forward like he hasn't heard. If he doesn't say this now, he's not sure he'll ever be able to. "I am a fickle, selfish creature, but…I do care for you as well, in…in my way. So, I am with you, too. I will be here, any way you'll have me, for as long as you want me. Wh-whether we get Minion back or not."

Roxanne is staring at him, but Megamind looks back down at their hands; he can't hold her gaze after that, can't even meet her eye. He shouldn't have said that. It had come out sounding much heavier than he'd thought it would, much closer to the truth.

The silence stretches, yawns wide between them. _That_ , Roxanne thinks, _sounded an awful lot like_ ' _I love you_.' And she thinks she probably missed the opportunity to tell him the same thing, earlier, but she's not sure if she should tell him now, because part of her still shies from the idea of adding that to the pile of crap he's trying to wrap his head around.

"Well?" Megamind asks at last, sounding lost. "What…what are you thinking?"

Roxanne jumps a little. "Um," she says. "A lot of things. I'm…thinking you're neither fickle nor selfish." She shifts in her seat. "I'm thinking you may be difficult at times, but you're worth figuring out. And I'm thinking…of _course_ I'll keep trying if this doesn't work, Megamind, f-for the same reason that I'm…not sure how to respond to the rest of it without kissing you.

"A-and," she continues, flushing, as Megamind's gaze flicks back to her again and his eyes go saucer-huge at her desperate bid for total honesty, "I'm hoping you'll kiss _me_ , first, because it sort of sounds like you might want to. And then I wouldn't have to figure out whether I should kiss you or not." She glances at their joined hands, then up at Megamind's stunned expression. He looks frozen. "I mean…I want to, but I'm pretty sure that would be really inappropriate of me."


	9. Chapter 9

I can't actually tell if this chapter is angsty or fluffy…ehhh, it's probably both. (Both? Both. Both is good.) It's pretty purple either way, but I regret nothing!

It's tax season again, and you know what that means: I don't officially exist. But I love you guys tons, and I'm gonna keep writing, and we'll see what happens!

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 9**

 **Feather on the Clyde – Passenger**

Megamind gapes at her for a second longer, then closes his mouth with a snap and blinks a few times. "In-inappropriate," he stammers, tilting his head jerkily to the side as his hands clench in hers, "inappropriate?"

"W-well, it's not fair of me to be having…feelings for you when you're so out of it," Roxanne says, even though mostly right now she's feeling like this is dangerously close to rambling, "I mean, you're…you just got done saying how you're…broken, and…" She sighs, grimaces a little, and tries to rein herself in a little. She'd like to gain a little composure, but 'feelings' had made Megamind's mouth fall right back open; he looks like he might be about to throw up, and that really wasn't the response Roxanne had been hoping for. "I'm…I'm sorry. Maybe…I shouldn't have said that about kissing. I…should've left you alone, one thing at a time."

"Sorry," Megamind repeats, finding his voice again. "You…I, I don't…"

"Look, you asked what I was thinking, and I told you." Roxanne is red all the way to her ears, biting the inside of her cheek, and she's getting increasingly nervous but he sounds like he's seeking clarification…so she obliges. "If you want to kiss me—if that's what you were getting at, if you care for me romantically and you want to…to, I don't know, but if that's what you mean? I'm fine with that." She pauses, because Megamind has gone back to staring at her as his eyebrows pull further and further up his forehead. "Th-then again," she says quickly, her confidence slipping somewhat at his continuing lackluster response, "I realize there's a lot on your plate, and like I said, I do feel bad about saying all this just now, so if you don't want to…I…" _Lord, can I stop talking?_ she wonders vaguely. _I'm only digging a deeper hole!_ "That's totally fine, too. I just…meant…" She rakes in a deep breath and says, "I think you're amazing.

"I think you're absolutely incredible. And beautiful. I've thought that for—a long time, actually, I just—never had the chance to let it—materialize? For me? Before?" She shakes her head. "I think your mind is the greatest thing in the world, whether or not it works the way you're used to. And I think you're—fun to talk to, and you're kind, and considerate, and," she half-smiles at the recollection, "you don't look at me like I'm a thing. You don't treat me like some helpless maid in need of a daring rescue; you never have. And when you get up to make yourself a grilled cheese in the middle of the night, you make one for me, too. And I care about you a lot, Megamind, and sometimes I want to kiss you.

"You don't have to do anything about it, but I wanted you to know. That's all I meant." Ears burning, she tries to pull her hands back, but Megamind's loose grip suddenly locks.

There's a lot of strength in those spindly fingers. A gentle tug doesn't get her anywhere. She pauses, blinking at him, trying not to look hopeful; she doesn't want to pressure him into anything, especially not with him still thinking he owes her.

But…maybe?

Megamind swallows hard, offers her a shaky smile, wild. "I've n-never," he says. "H-how? Do I…?" He looks like he doesn't know what to do with his face; his small frown is as twitchy as his previous smile had been. "How do you want…?"

 _Oh, thank God_ , Roxanne thinks, but what she says is, "I want you however you'll be." And wow, that sounded way less cornball in her head, but oh, well. "You must have thought of this before," she adds gently, deciding to risk a teasing little grin. "I know you must have. Go for it."

Megamind flushes pink all over his handsome face, but nods. "Y-yes," he says. "Okay. C-close your eyes, don't…don't look at me."

That's an unexpected request, but sure, okay. Roxanne complies. She's not sure what she's expecting, or even if she has enough brainpower right now to expect anything in particular; her blood is too loud in her ears for her to really think straight.

But what she's absolutely _not_ expecting is for him to press dry lips against the corner of her mouth. And she's not expecting to feel them high on her neck, soft under her ear, after a brief pause. She's not expecting him to brush the side of his nose against her temple as he slowly moves to kiss her forehead, and she's not expecting him to smell like leather and soap even though the only leather he's worn in a year is the gloves she'd bought for him.

If she were going to expect anything, it would have been for him to be more direct than this. To move right in and plant one on her—but instead, he gives her these snowflake kisses, almost painfully gentle. He touches her face with only the tips of his fingers, roving over her lips, her cheeks, her fluttering eyelids and lashes, her eyebrows; smooths the sweep of her mussed-up bangs with the backs of his knuckles. Follows his fingers' shivering paths with his mouth.

Roxanne sits like a stone, struck dumb, until Megamind leans forward and rests the side of his head against hers, cheek-to-cheek for a moment before he finally bends his neck to rest the swell of his forehead in the curve of her shoulder.

One long, thin hand twists into the hem of her shirt. The other spans her throat, pressing very lightly, and Roxanne realizes after a moment that he's grounding himself in her heartbeat.

This is not what she'd expected at all. This is not something she's ever experienced before, this…his hands and mouth on her face and neck like she's something delicate; and Megamind knows she isn't. Roxanne knows he knows that. He knows she isn't fragile and he handles her as though she is, anyway. There's nothing condescending in the way he moves, only a kind of terrible praise, a kind of longing, and Roxanne has never felt more at home than she does now, with her heart aching because her interstellar orphan of a roommate is painting how beautiful he finds her on her skin.

She can't stand it anymore; the stone in her throat is too heavy and her heart hurts too much. She sits forward a little and opens her eyes, then catches Megamind's hands away from her neck and shirt. Startled, he jerks violently back and freezes, looking like a deer in the headlights.

But Roxanne smiles at him and presses her lips to the pads of his thin fingers, and he relaxes—just a little, enough to risk a small smile—and Roxanne moves in close and tilts her head, tangles one of her hands in one of his, netting them together. His fingers are long enough to reach halfway down the back of her hand when she fits the heel of her palm into the curve of his, and they tighten when she finally brings their mouths close together, guiding him with her other hand on his sharp chin. And then she waits, still smiling, her eyes sliding half-closed again.

Well, if she's waiting for him to close the gap, he'll oblige her. He cups the side of her neck with his free hand, his fingers in her short hair and his thumb under the curve of her jaw, tipping her face to his as he kisses her. At first, he's not sure what she's looking for, but then her hands are on his shoulder and the back of his head, drawing him in with a sharp inhale as she opens her mouth, and this.

Megamind's hazy brain grinds to a screeching halt. This. Yes. Holy God.

He takes Roxanne's face in both hands and does his best to follow what her lips are doing. He doesn't pull her close—he doesn't dare keep her against him—but he does hold her, as softly as he can so she'll know she can back off when she changes her mind.

But she doesn't change her mind. At least, she doesn't seem to. Megamind's heart is thundering in his ears as Roxanne tugs him to stand up and then twines her arms around his neck; she keeps him there, she pulls him close. She's soft in his hands and he's safe in her arms and Megamind's stomach is slowly untying the knots it had bound itself up in when they'd been shouting at each other. She pulls back once, then kisses his mouth again, more gently than the first time. He hesitates, but she does it again; _Aha_ , he thinks, relaxing again, _another kind of kiss_. These kisses start open and pull closed, as opposed to the first kiss, which had started closed and then opened. And there are more of them. He's not sure which kind he prefers; clearly this calls for more practice. The thought that he might actually have the chance to practice this makes his knees weak.

He doesn't realize he's made a noise until he feels her grin into his mouth, and that's when he finally breaks away, embarrassed, his lips tingling and his mind in a whirl, but all he can do is lean his head against hers and murmur, "You know of course that I love you."

It takes Roxanne a moment to respond, during which time Megamind nearly has two heart attacks because _Oh oh oh no what did I just say did I just say that oh no_ , but when she does, her voice sounds unexpectedly thick.

"I know," she agrees. "I…and I love you, too, I realized a few nights ago. I wasn't going to tell you so soon, but…well, anyway."

Something electric shivers down Megamind's spine. _No_ , he thinks, but also _yes_. "—not serious," he whispers, and that makes Roxanne's arms go tight around him, makes her turn and bend her head so her nose is almost poking into his ear.

"I have never been more serious in my life," she tells him in a quiet voice that makes his lips part and his eyebrows pull together. "Try to trust me. I will not lie to you."

His chest hollows once and a muscle pulses in his cheek when he clenches his teeth, blinking. At least one of them is good at talking. "I," he says unsteadily, "am going to kiss you again."

"Not if I kiss you first," she replies, and Megamind doesn't have much time to process that before her lips are on his again, moving slowly, and his mind goes blank again, except for—

His hands on her hips and she's warm under his palms; her arms twine around his shoulders in a kind of languid embrace, one elbow crooked so she can stroke light fingertips over the top of his head. Her lips are warm, too, and soft, and she's smiling again, and Megamind does not want to think about anything right now and possibly not ever again. He's been enjoying his new freedom over the past couple days, enjoying Roxanne's poorly-hidden surprise at how willing he is to reach out, now that he knows he's allowed, and enjoying how willing she is to lean into him, but _this_ is not something he'd ever dreamed he'd be allowed to do.

"Hah," he breathes as they separate, brushing nervous thumbs up and down on her sides and marveling at this expanded capacity for touch, "I—never thought you'd—I never—"

Roxanne's mouth tightens at the corners. "I know," she says quietly. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't," he says, shaking his head hard, "don't ever, don't, please." Then he swallows, tilts his head jerkily to one side. "Is that why I can touch you?"

"No, that's why you can kiss me," Roxanne says, with half a smile. "For the rest of it, you're the same as anyone else."

Megamind nods, looking stunned, and returns the other half of her smile without realizing it. Then he shifts his weight and glances to the side and back again, totally lost and not bothering to hide it. There's…not much he actually wants to hide, anymore; that's a new feeling. He's only ever been all of himself with Minion. Sometimes not even then. But this feels safe, this feels okay. This is allowed.

"What happens now? Do we go to the Lair?" He raises his eyebrows and tries to remember himself, swallows. He also tries to regain some poise, but he can't quite keep his breathlessly joyful disbelief at bay when he asks, "D-do we kiss again? What…what's the plan?"

Roxanne chuckles. "Well, we went a little off-script there," she says, and Megamind lets out an answering laugh that sounds like a bark, "but, um…"

She hesitates, biting her lip, trying to figure out how to explain what she and Metro Man had worked out on the flight home—but there's a sharp knock on her balcony door before she can say anything.

Megamind jumps and then jerks away from her like he's been stung; he goes from pliant happiness and gentle smiles to scowling, squared-off defense in record time, spitting, "How long has _he_ been out there?" with his fists at his sides and absolutely none of the warmth he'd been all but oozing barely half a second prior. After all, there's only one person that can be, and the hero's timing is too perfect for him not to have been eavesdropping.

At least Roxanne looks equally startled. 'Script' must have been a figure of speech. "I don't know, I didn't even know he'd be coming over tonight," she says, and she doesn't raise her voice when she adds, "It's unlocked, come on in."

Wayne shoves the curtains aside a moment later and flits inside, closing the door carefully behind him. "You guys," he says as he turns around and faces them, arms crossed over his chest, shaking his head with a fond, if awkward, grin. "You guys are something else, I tell you what."

Megamind glares at him and says nothing, but Roxanne puts her fists on her hips. "Were you listening this whole time?" she demands. "We talked about this."

He at least has the grace to look abashed. "I know, I know I said I wouldn't, but…then he started yelling and I wasn't sure if…I mean, I know he looks like he's made of noodles and string, but Roxie, seriously, he's basically titanium and if…I mean, I dunno if…" He trails off at Roxanne's glare. "Sorry. Yeah, he wouldn't, I know. I, uh…hey, little buddy!" he says, turning to Megamind with something that's trying to be a smile. "Uh. Long time, no see! How's…how're you doing?"

"Fine," Megamind says flatly, arms over his thin chest. "I'm fine. And if I'm noodles," he adds, scowling blackly, "then _you_ are made of…protein shakes and…and _spam_."

"Cowardly spam," Roxanne clarifies. "Only showing up after I had to have the hard conversation."

Metro Man twiddles his thumbs, looking nervous. "Yeah, that's—fair. But considering how he reacted to you, I think I was right about him not being receptive if I was here."

Megamind grits his teeth and starts to turn away, intending to get another glass of water so his mouth will be busy and he'll be less likely to start shouting profanities at having been interrupted mid-cuddle. But then, to his surprise, he finds himself hauled into the air and caught in a bone-creaking hug. _That's_ new.

Once upon a time, he would have struggled—would have kicked and scratched and bitten anything he could get his teeth into, probably while shrieking—but now, still halfway in cuddle-mode, he just goes stiff and startled. Metro Man is hugging him. Metro Man is _hugging_ him? _Metro Man_. Is hugging _him_. And all he can think of is Roxanne saying if she's comfortable with someone, why shouldn't she touch them, and hugging is a gesture of support, a sign of affection, and…

And Metro Man looks at him as he sets him back down on the ground, stares straight into Megamind's eyes as he says, "The plan is, we're gonna fix this. I'll help. We start tomorrow, early. Anything you need, man, I got you."

Megamind blinks at him, too shocked to argue or respond with anything but more staring even in spite of his affront over the noodles comment. Tonight, it seems, is a night of revelations.

Metro Man pats him awkwardly on the shoulder and steps back, adjusts his belt a little. "Anyway, uh. I just wanted to pass that along. You wanted to know what the plan was, and…the plan is, we're gonna fix it! Starting tomorrow, at…Roxie and I figured eight in the morning. How's that sound?"

Megamind nods wordlessly, so Roxanne steps in. "Earlier, Megs here said something about transtemporal synchrony. You know what that is?"

Metro Man tilts his head. "Maybe. Isn't that the thing where, like, turn signals at a traffic light fall in and out of sync with each other in cycles? Except, you know…with points in time-space instead of space-space?"

Megamind frowns and clears his throat, does his best to focus. "That's…that's just totally wrong."

"Yeah, but basically that's what it is, in layman's terms. Right?"

Megamind shrugs. "I suppose the analogy could aid comprehension," he admits grudgingly. "It's still wrong."

Metro Man grins. "Thought so," he says. "Okay, kids, I'm going to bed. Gotta get a good night's sleep! Big day tomorrow! I'll pick you up at eight!"

"Kids?" Roxanne calls after him as he flies for the door, but he just turns and salutes on his way out. "What a weirdo," she remarks to Megamind, who rolls his eyes and nods again.

Then his gaze falls away. Roxanne watches him, suddenly uncertain, as he starts fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

He still doesn't speak; after a moment, she asks him, "You okay? What are you thinking?"

He glances at her. "I'm thinking I don't want to go to bed," he says quietly. "This is. It's too much."

Roxanne bites her lip. She knows what he means. "What if I came with you?" she asks, because in for a penny, in for a pound, really. "Just for sleeping?" Maybe she's a masochist when it comes to her heart, but after all this, she really does want some serious cuddle time. She only hopes Megamind feels the same way, but she suspects he probably does, if the way he'd held her earlier was any indication.

Megamind blinks once, then arches an eyebrow at her and smirks with a shadow of his old poise. "You don't think it's too soon?" he asks. "Next thing you know, we'll be living together."

Roxanne peers at him. "Are you making a joke?" she asks, then sees the tiny tug of lips that means he's laughing at her and trying not to let her see. "You butthead," she says fondly. "You can say no, though. I don't want to push."

"I did tell you I might never stop being physically affectionate at you," Megamind reminds her as he looks down at his feet, still trying to hide his little smile, but his eyes when he glances back up are warm, and crinkly at the corners. "So, yes," he says, "yes, I think…I would welcome the company."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roxanne had anticipated having to be the little spoon because of their differences in proportion, but it turns out Megamind sleeps on his back—he folds a pillow lengthways to support his neck against the curve of his enormous skull, and sleeps with his long throat exposed, and Roxanne thinks she might have realized her feelings for him a lot sooner if she'd known the old villain trusted her enough to sleep like this in her home.

He scoots far to the edge of the narrow bed at first, offering her space, but Roxanne tugs him back into the middle and then ducks under his arm and rests her head on his chest. "You're my pillow with bones in it," she tells him, and feels more than hears him laugh. Then she adds, "I should've told you about Minion sooner. I really am sorry."

"I know." He pauses, then slips his bare fingers next to her scalp, gently combing outwards. "So am I. F-forgive me? I was…stupid." He brings his other arm, the one she's lying on, up around her back to curl his fingers over her hip. After a moment, he decides to try rubbing his thumb gently back and forth.

"We'll work it out tomorrow," Roxanne promises with a yawn, shifting a little and snuggling closer at his touch. Success! "But you don't have to apologize for anything. You were totally justified."

"Not really," Megamind says, with a frown in his voice. "I don't think so. A-and I am apologizing."

Roxanne smiles. "Then sure, I forgive you."

Megamind puffs out a sigh and does his best to force himself to relax. "Thank you. Is this okay?"

"Is what okay?"

It must be, with an answer like that, but he still says, "Me. Holding you. My hand in your hair."

Roxanne hums. "This is just fine. If you're okay with me lying on your gills…?"

"I am. Yes."

"Then we're good."

Megamind is quiet after that, and the silence is only broken by the normal city noises outside the windows and balcony doors—sirens, cars honking, the hiss of traffic. Far away, a train. After a while, his low voice vibrates under Roxanne's ear, "Are you awake?" and she makes another humming noise, this one inquisitive. "I don't know what's going to happen to me," Megamind says quietly. "If this doesn't work. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull myself away again. I had to leave the Lair to sleep. Every minute I wasn't trying to get Minion back…it was wasted. Eating, sleeping. I had to leave."

Roxanne squeezes him. "I know you did," she whispers. "It's okay."

"I'm not trying to convince you," he tells her, "I'm trying to warn you. It might be worse this time. Now I know there was a way, and I missed it…" He trails off. "If this doesn't work, I won't know how to stop wondering if there's s-something else I overlooked. And.

"A-and I'm not sure how I'll believe you when you tell me there's nothing else." He wraps the hand that isn't on her waist around her wrist, half-missing the warmth of her hair but needing to hang onto something a little more solid. He presses his middle and ring fingers against her pulse, which is reassuringly slow—he takes it to mean she's comfortable at his side, rather than agitated. It's probably safe to say, "Last time, it nearly killed me. These bonds, they aren't…I don't think they're meant to break."

He feels Roxanne frown against his chest, but her pulse holds steady. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Megamind gives a short laugh. "I don't cross bridges. I burn them."

"They can be rebuilt." Roxanne hugs him tighter. She feels his grip tighten on her wrist, but she's not sure if that's because he's feeling protective, possessive, or scared. "We'll tackle it together. I'll help."

"I know." He's quiet again for a while, and then he says, "Tell me again, you love me?"

Roxanne smiles and lifts herself to her elbow, pulls her hand out of his grasp so she can press it flat against the plane of his cheek. It's a shame the lights are off, but his lips are soft when she leans down to kiss him, and she can feel his lashes flutter when she brushes her thumb across the thin skin under his eye, can feel his throat working when she strokes the tips of her fingers down to rest on the curve of his shoulder, can feel his breath shuddering when he opens his mouth under hers, and that's enough. "I love you," she says quietly, when she breaks away. "I, Roxanne, love you, Megamind. You, and your big head and your blue skin and your gills and your webbed feet and your two pairs of eyelids and your big heart." She pauses, and a cautious note enters her voice as she continues, "I also love you even if you go back to being a supervillain when we get Minion home."

Megamind hisses and threads the hand that isn't on her waist back into her hair so he can pull her forehead to his. Because that, that means a lot. "I'm not," he says thickly. "I'll—find something else. I can't risk this happening again, I can't. But thank you. I. Love you, too."

Roxanne smiles, kisses him once more, quickly, and then scoots down to get comfortable again. "I still wish I had better timing on that one," she admits after a while. "Sorry."

Incredibly, Megamind laughs. "Better timing," he repeats, incredulous. "No. Waiting for the right time is for suckers."

"You big liar, you're all about timing and stage presence," Roxanne says, but Megamind flaps an imperious hand, brushes her comment away.

"Oh, _that_ , that's professionalism, never mind _that_ ," he scoffs. He moves his head to look down at her; this means lifting it slightly and tilting it to the side. "I'm talking about life. You roll with what life gives you and play the hand you're dealt. Worrying too much about timing just leads to…missed opportunities." He pauses, swallows, adjusts his placement on the pillow and stares up at the ceiling. "Don't be sorry for…for loving me. And don't wish you'd waited. Please."

It's the please that hurts Roxanne the most, it has this whole time; every time Megamind says please it's a reminder of everything that's changed. He never said 'please' before, that she knows of. Supervillains don't. "I'm not," she says. "I'm not sorry for loving you. I'm just sorry for dropping this on you at the same time as everything else."

But Megamind shakes his head. "All my life," he says. " _All_ my life. I _never_."

She smiles. "Okay. Then I'm not sorry at all. I'm entirely unapologetic," she says staunchly, rubbing a reassuring hand up and down his chest. Megamind huffs a shivery sort of laugh and squeezes her. "I love you, and we're here together, sharing a blanket, and I tell you what, Brainmate, nobody's ever kissed me like you did, not once. And that was the best first kiss ever, and I regret absolutely nothing."

"Good," he whispers. "Good."

"And now," she continues, "I'm going to sleep, and you should, too. I'll be here when you wake up." And with that, she curls one arm between her chest and his, wraps the other across and around his little body, and bumps her ear around until she finds a comfortable spot under the end of his sharp collarbone. She has to wonder, in a vague, sleepy way, if it's normal for his ribs to be so defined—she'd noticed before, when he'd shown her his gills, how he's filled out a bit since she'd found him alone in the rain, but he's still awfully thin.

Ah well. She has time to find out. She yawns and hums happily, warm in the arms of an alien. "Of all the lives in all th' cities 'n all the worlds," she mumbles, "'m glad you crash-landed in mine."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Megamind is quiet again the next morning. Roxanne wakes to an empty bed, and when she gets up, he's sitting at the kitchen island, fully dressed for the day and staring into a mug of coffee like he's trying to read the future in the swirling surface. The pot is already half-empty—did he drink the other half?

"Hey," she says, unaccountably nervous. "You doing okay?"

Megamind nods but doesn't look up.

"Okay, um…I'm going to go get ready. Wayne'll be here soon, he'll give us a ride over. Sound good?" All she gets is another nod. Roxanne can't really blame him for being tongue-tied, under the circumstances, but still…it's not like him to be _totally_ nonverbal this way anymore. Slowly, she slips into the chair next to his.

"Hey," she says again, more quietly this time. "What's on your mind, Brainmate?"

It takes him a minute to reply, and when he does, it's in half a whisper. "It's. Easier when it's dark."

"Easier?"

"To believe you," he says, long fingers tightening around his mug. "I…I'm not…this. So how can you…" He bites his lip, finally frowning, but he can't quite look over at her yet. "I need Minion back. I need him. My brain doesn't work right without him. I can't…process things. The way I want to. I can barely string two words together, and you…" He swallows, squinting at nothing like he can't understand what he's looking at, and then suddenly he looks over at Roxanne, shaking his head. "You lie down with me, you…your head on my heart, m-my hands in your hair, but…if this works, if Minion comes back, if I can be all of me, us, him and me, again…" His forehead creases and he breaks off abruptly, visibly frustrated. "Ugh, listen to me," he scoffs. "Useless. I don't have words."

And this, right here, this is why Roxanne had originally wanted to wait to make any kind of romantic overture. "The words you do have are beautiful," she says, meaning it. _Your head on my heart, my hands in your hair_. "I want Minion back, too, and I'm not going anywhere soon. I meant what I said last night. I want you with me however you'll be."

Megamind's shoulders pull up and he jerks his head back somewhat, wrinkling his whole face in defensive confusion. "You don't even _like_ the me I used to be," he protests, but Roxanne isn't going to let that train of thought leave the station.

"Minion changes how you think," she says flatly. "Not who you are."

"How I think is part of who I am," he points out. "How I think. I'm _Megamind_. It's what shapes me."

Roxanne shakes her head at him, but she can't help smiling a little. " _What_ you think is what shapes you. _How_ you think just…facilitates it." She sighs. "Your ability to think the way you're used to might be a little fractured right now, but you're still the same Megamind you've always been. Just…" She casts about for a good word, but all she can think of is, "sadder."

Megamind huffs a reluctant laugh. "Maybe."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, anyway," she tells him.

Thank you. I think."

Roxanne smiles at him and stands. "Shower time for me, now," she says lightly, and, on impulse, leans over to press a kiss to the side of his cranium as she scoots past so she can head to the bathroom. She completely misses the badly startled look on Megamind's face, as well as the totally flabbergasted way he stares after her.

She's in and out of the shower in five minutes—it's more to tame her hair than anything else—and dresses quickly in a pair of black leggings and a soft blue scoop-necked tunic with a wide belt, then clips Megamind's bracelet onto her wrist. She isn't going to bother with makeup; she still has enough eyeliner on from yesterday even in spite of her shower, and she'll leave it at that. Good enough.

Her initial choice of shoes is a pair of simple sandals with decent arch support, but Megamind points at them as soon as she steps out of the bedroom. "No," he says. "Closed-toed shoes in the Lair."

 _Good morning to you too, sunshine_ , Roxanne thinks, but she doesn't argue—she remembers his first night at her apartment and how he'd shied from the hard floor in his stocking feet. This must be a pretty hard-and-fast rule, so she swaps out the sandals for a pair of plain black flats. They're comfortable enough as long as she doesn't have to stand still for too long. "How're these?"

Megamind gives them a bland once-over. "Those are fine," he says, and then his mouth tugs into a half-smile as he appears to notice the rest of her outfit. His eyes linger on her bracelet. "You look nice," he adds, and he only sounds a little bit shy.

Roxanne grins. "You, too. That's my sweater."

Megamind glances down and plucks at the navy knit. "I like it," he admits. Now that he's not staring into his coffee, Roxanne can see the deep shadows under his eyes; clearly, he didn't sleep much last night. "I don't usually go for baggy clothes, but…"

"It suits you," Roxanne tells him, and it's true. She's not sure how he manages to pull off the loose shirt over those tight jeans—it's a more traditionally feminine combination—but it really does look good on his narrow frame. Very fashion plate. "You're not going to be too warm?"

He shakes his head. "You may want to grab a jacket," he says. "The Lair will be colder this early in the morning."

Right. Cold and damp. Roxanne pulls her denim jacket from the closet and slips it on, then slings her purse onto her shoulder. "Ready?" she says, and Megamind takes a deep breath and pushes his now-empty mug away, nodding as he stands up. "Good." She dials Wayne.

He lands on the balcony while the phone is still ringing, and doesn't even hesitate to open the door and poke his head inside. "You two ready to go?" he asks, then blinks a little at the stars on Megamind's sweater. He tilts his head, quirking a questioning grin and holding the door open for Roxanne as she steps out into the wind. "Since when do you two share a wardrobe?"

Roxanne rolls her eyes at him. "Oh, hush, it looks better on him anyway. Let's go. Up!"

Shaking his head, Metro Man drops to one knee and holds a massive arm in front of him like a bar. Megamind hesitates, unsure of what the position means. But Roxanne clearly has no such uncertainties; she knows what's what—she simply steps from Metro Man's knee to his arm like he's a humanoid stepladder, then turns and sits on his massive shoulder, just as neat as you please. She looks as if she's done this a hundred times.

Metro Man shifts, bringing his arm up so Roxanne can hold onto his wrist for balance—and she's already reaching for it; she's _definitely_ done this a time or two—then switches knees and holds his other arm out to Megamind as Roxanne takes off her shoes and stows them in her purse. "C'mon, you're on my left," he says, and Megamind recoils instinctively. Metro Man huffs and shrugs a little, making Roxanne yip and grab his wrist with both hands. "I could do you like a sack of potatoes, for old times' sake, if you'd rather," he says.

Megamind cocks an eyebrow. "Pass," he replies, putting as much ice into his tone as he can. He hops up quickly, trying to act normal and not think about how odd this is.

Shaking his head, Metro Man lifts off.

He stays mostly vertical for the flight, which…Megamind isn't quite sure what to make of that. He's sure Metro Man would ordinarily level out after a while; that's how he'd always flown when hauling Megamind around by the collar. That's how he always flies, period. But he stays upright this morning, one knee crooked as he heads skyward, keeping both arms up like the elbows of a football goalpost so his passengers have something to hold onto.

Megamind is less than pleased about having to hold Metro Man's wrist for any reason, but after a glance at Roxanne, he decides he'll take it. It's preferable to holding onto his thumb, the way she's doing.

Besides, it's only about ten minutes flight at speed: five minutes up and five minutes down. Then they're landing outside the Lair, and Roxanne and Megamind are clambering down to the ground as Metro Man drops into a crouch. Once they're safely on solid ground, he straightens, grimacing and rolling the shoulder Megamind was sitting on. " _Man_ , you're bony," he complains. "At least Roxie's got some padding."

"You love it," Roxanne agrees, grinning.

"It's sure more comfortable for me," Metro Man says. Megamind sends him a sideways glare—he doesn't sound like he's flirting, and Megamind recognizes Roxanne's tone as the one she always uses towards Metro City's golden child. She seems okay with Metro Man commenting about her butt, so it's probably not Megamind's place to be annoyed.

Fine. That's fine. He has bigger fish to fry, anyway. He dusts himself off and looks up at the Lair, his eyebrows lowering as he switches gears. He'd left this place standing empty while he was reeling from lack of sleep and hallucinating. He's feeling better now, but there's no guarantee it won't happen again.

"If I'm awake for another twenty-four hours," he says absently to Metro Man, still gazing at the graffiti-covered walls, "You're under orders to bludgeon me into unconsciousness."

"Uh…s-sure thing," Metro Man replies, after a startled pause.

Megamind sighs and squares his shoulders. "Okay," he mutters. "Let's do this."


	10. Chapter 10

ON WITH THE SHOW

IDK why Roxanne is worried

seems like a silly thing to worry about

but then SHE doesn't know that this fic is being written by a hopeless shipper so maybe that's why

I love you guys, hope you're safe and well! Big hugs.

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 10**

 **Sound the Bells – Dessa**

Megamind leads the way into his silent Lair without looking around, his mouth a thin line, his jaw set. He gives his big drawing board a wide berth. A half-finished platform with a scorch mark on the ceiling above it makes him pause, but he doesn't look over at it. For the most part, he keeps his eyes on the floor and moves with as much purpose as he can muster towards the doorway at the far corner of the room.

The other two follow him through the dim hallways, which are lit in the morning by sparse shafts of sunlight that find their way in through the multitudes of tiny windows Megamind has set into the ceilings. They both know where they're going, but they let Megamind lead by unspoken agreement—this was his home, after all, not theirs. Metro Man, drifting along in the rear with his toes barely touching the floor, kicks up dust in a V-shaped wake behind him rather than leaving more footprints. The motes lift and dance in the sun as he passes.

Megamind eventually turns into the room Roxanne and Wayne had been in before, stepping over the twisted door. "Here I am, and there it is," he says, jerking his head at the tripod-mounted gun. It's as he remembers it: unfinished, its mechanisms and circuitry exposed. He can't stand to look at it for long. "What do you need?"

"Okay," Metro Man says. "Can you get this thing hooked up to a bigger generator? It's gonna need a lot of power. The power supply you've got on it won't be nearly enough. I was hitting it with my laser vision at almost full blast before the res—um, the reconciliation device kicked in."

Megamind nods once, quickly, and presses his palms against his legs to stop clenching and unclenching his hands. "I can. I…" He pauses, frowning. "Your lasers? How did you manage that?"

Metro Man picks up the headset Roxanne had modified the day before and passes it to him. Megamind turns it over a few times, peering at the additional wiring, the new couplings, the adapter. He studies how it's grounded for almost five whole seconds before aiming a questioning glance up at Metro Man, who coughs awkwardly and nods at Roxanne.

Megamind looks over at her. "You adjusted this? To work with the disruptor?"

"Yep," Roxanne says, looking pleased with herself. "It worked pretty well, I think! You have a lot of power cords, it wasn't hard to find the right ones."

 _Ah_. Megamind's stomach clenches. "How long did it take you?" he asks. "Where did you learn how to do it?"

"I called a friend who does electric stuff at construction sites and he filled in the bits Google didn't," she replies with a little shrug. "It didn't take long—an hour, maybe. Is something wrong?"

 _These bonds aren't meant to break_. A muscle pulses in Megamind's jaw for a moment, but he finally shakes his head. "…No. Nothing's wrong. Well done, I'm…impressed." He looks at Metro Man again and asks, "What else?" before Roxanne can push him for more answers, but the hero pauses. Megamind's expression sours. He's not interested in uncertainty. He doesn't have time for uncertainty. "You two said you'd need my brain to build whatever it was you needed. I can do that, but I'm going to have a tough time thinking of what you _do_ need—"

Metro Man interrupts with, "A harness." So, he'd known what was needed. Why would a harness make him hesitate? "And a rope that'll reach through several cascading Einstein-Rosen bridges while being tethered on one 'end' to the harness and the other 'end' to something in the here-and-now—preferably a winch or a really big reel or something."

Fine, sure, Megamind can handle that well enough. A harness, a reel: those things are easy. He has those on hand. The rope…now, that might take some finagling. But overall, these things don't sound like a tall order. It's not so much.

If he can see where to start, that is.

He grits his teeth for a moment against the poisonous question, but _where to start_ has been his biggest problem for more than a year. "What do you need first."

Metro Man glances around the little room. "First…okay. For right now, I'm just gonna need you to get this gun of yours plugged into a hefty power supply. If you can get that, I'll go ahead and widen up the field a little."

Megamind jerks his head in a nod and leaves without another word.

After he's gone, Roxanne approaches Wayne. "What are you doing?"

He doesn't look up from where he's tightening the nuts holding the gun to its tripod to keep it stable when he switches out the barrel. "You're not gonna go offer to help him?"

"We don't need another power supply," she says quietly. "Your laser vision works; why change it? And why the harness? Couldn't a brainbot just hold onto the rope? I thought that was the plan."

"That was _your_ plan," he says, drifting around the gun to get at the bolts on the opposite side. "But a brainbot won't be able to navigate the kind of space we're playing around in."

Roxanne shakes her head. "Wait, no, I'm confused. If we aren't sending a brainbot, then what…"

"You'll see," he says shortly. "Trust me, it'll be fine. Pass me that wrench?"

She gives him the wrench, but _trust me, it'll be fine_ isn't something she's particularly interested in. "Seriously, what are you thinking?"

He's floating on his back as he loosens the barrel connection underneath the gun first. "I'll go."

"What?" She shakes her head and drops into a crouch so she can see his face. "What if something goes wrong and we can't get you back?"

"You've got a super-genius," he says. "And I'll have one, too. Might take some explaining to get the one on my end to listen, but he's even got his whole brain and everything. But it's not going to be a problem," he rolls to the side to start on another coupling, "because if it was, it would've already happened."

She bites her lip. "I don't know. I still think a brainbot—"

"I told you, brainbots can't navigate like I can," he says shortly. "Roxie, it's gotta be me. Now, help me balance this thing."

They've gotten the old barrel off the gun and Roxanne is holding a wider one steady while Wayne screws it into place when Megamind returns. "Finish what you're doing and then step back," Megamind snaps. He's carrying a concave dish under one arm, and his other arm is stuck through several…Wayne isn't sure what they are, but they're all metal and they're all more or less round and they all have holes through the middle, and he's carrying them as close to his shoulder as possible. He's wearing his gun belt again and he's also carrying a standard toolbox, but even as heavy as that looks, the way he's leaning says the giant rings are heavier still. Wayne knows better than to offer to help, but…

Megamind kneels to set the toolbox on the floor, then carefully bends sideways and unthreads his arm from the rest of his burden. He stands back up with the dish in hand, picking at the multitude of insulated wires taped to the back of it. He glances up once, scowling, and wiggles his fingers in Wayne's direction. "Step _back_ , I said," he insists. Roxanne has already moved to stand by the wall. "I need to get in there."

Wayne drifts back a few feet, then up and around so he can look over Megamind's shoulder—he's busily stripping wires and binding them to the ones trailing from the back of the dish; it looks like this is going to be part of the gun's new power supply. "What's that?"

"None of your business."

Wayne frowns, nettled. He knows the little guy doesn't like him, but seriously? "I really think it is my business."

"You think everything is your business," Megamind says in a flattish tone, carefully adjusting the angle of the panel downwards. He doesn't look up as he returns to the pile of metal rings and starts shoving the largest one into position on the floor with short, quick movements. "You find my _notes_ , you find my _plans_ , you assume you know my _machines—_ "

Wayne's lip finally curls. "Okay, look," he says, sharp, "I'm trying to rescue your friend, here, not start a fight. Grow up." When Megamind doesn't answer, he takes a deep breath and blows it out in a rush. Hopefully, that'll be the end of it. "So. Can I move any of that? It looks heavy."

Megamind bites his lip hard, then says, "Just…move it two feet that way."

"Can do." The thing is made up of several hundred narrow, identical bricks—they'd be wide, right-angled triangular prisms, if not for the fact that their most acute angles are cut off to create a short fourth side—arranged in a ring with a small gap between each brick. There are tangles of tiny wires visible in each gap, and the slanting edge of each brick is bright with copper panels.

Megamind opens the toolbox, removes a strongly-beveled cone with both ends square, fits this into the center of the ring he'd had Wayne move, and then turns it and lifts a little to click and lock it in. "Pick it up," he says shortly, then crouches to scoot underneath, long fingers making quick work of checking the connections. Satisfied, he nods and gets out of the way so Wayne can put the thing back down again.

"Roxanne," he says, and she jumps a little. "Can you fit the dampener into the ocular focus?" She blinks a few times, and he adds, "That's the, um, the giant ring-washer and the circle made of little silver boxes."

"I can try," she agrees.

"Thanks," he says, and sits down on the floor next to the toolbox, pulls out a lump of whitish metal and what looks like a diamond-edged cheese grater, and starts shaving little filings into a pile.

"What's _that?_ " Wayne asks, and Megamind glances up at him, already glaring.

But then he sighs and his shoulders slump a little. "It's…just magnesium. I need it to burn, that's all—the Catastrophic Converter will do the rest."

 _Okay…_ Wayne nods again. "Okay, well, I'm gonna finish changing out the barrel, yeah?"

Megamind tenses, but shrugs and says, "Do whatever you have to," and proceeds to pointedly ignore anything happening after that until the magnesium is fully shredded.

Even he isn't sure what he thinks about Metro Man's involvement in all this, especially considering how, last night, it sounded like most of this was his idea in the first place. Roxanne exhibiting concern for him is one thing, but Metro Man? That's something else entirely, and Megamind doesn't know what it is, and it's setting him on edge.

He finishes with the magnesium, scooping up the handfuls of fine filings and dumping them carefully into the chamber in the center of the Converter. Then he places a second ring, similar to the first but smaller, around the chamber and hooks it into the base ring and chamber itself. After that, it's not hard to lock the top of the chamber into place and assemble the dampener and focus over everything else. The receiver gets set up at just the right angle to the reflector Megamind has Metro Man attach to the ceiling above the Converter, and it's done.

"Okay," he says, brushing himself off with quick movements. "That's the power supply taken care of. Now what?"

"You're sure that's gonna be enough?" Metro Man asks. "It's only magnesium, I mean…"

Megamind growls. "It's a _Catastrophic Converter_. It's not 'only' magnesium; it piggybacks off the energy released as the magnesium burns and pulls out the rest of the energy lost in the oxidation reaction. It uses oxidation itself as the point of fission and gleans all the potential energy from the source. This thing," he snaps, pointing at the device on the floor, "is probably the most totally overblown, pointlessly destructive item I own—we're talking _atom bomb_ levels of destruction _—_ and I turned it into a _generator_ because you said you need one. That should be enough magnesium to keep the bridges open for at least an hour. I don't know what else you want, here."

"Okay, good," Metro Man says, after a couple moments. "Now, the harness."

Megamind's expression tightens, but he nods. "How big are we talking?" he asks, still looking irritated. "Brainbot-sized? Minion-sized?"

"Me-sized," Metro Man tells him.

Roxanne glances over from where she'd been studying the Catastrophic Converter, but she doesn't say anything. Megamind's annoyed expression has fallen abruptly flat, leaving horror and surprised alarm swimming in its wake. Good, she's not the only one with reservations about this.

"Wh-what?" Megamind stammers, sounding almost hilariously dismayed considering how sharp he'd been just seconds earlier. He skips back two steps, shaking his huge head. "You…wait, what exactlyis your plan?"

Metro Man sighs and puts his fists on his hips, squares his shoulders. "It goes like this: we fire up the gun. I put on the harness. We tether me to the here-and-now. And then you shoot me," he continues firmly, even though Megamind's face is turning pale and his eyes are getting bigger and bigger, "with the gun, and I hyper-accelerate and I hunt around whenever, wherever I end up until I find Minion. Then I reel both of us back home." He shrugs and nods at the gun. "That thing should work as an exit as well as an entrance."

"Not. At. Not at the same time," Megamind says.

"Yes, at the same time," Metro Man replies, positive. "This is time we're talking about; we're not working with space here. It can be both at once."

"But…" Megamind's voice trails off and he swallows. "If…if something goes wrong, you'd…never make it back, and…"

"If something was gonna go wrong, Wayne would've come out when Minion went in," Roxanne says, because at this point, she thinks she's getting the hang of this. "That's the last time the gun was functional."

Wayne nods. "Yep, that would've been my exit. This _will work_ ," he adds, his voice firm, because Megamind is apparently still too shocked to even scrunch his face the way he usually does when he's not convinced. "All you need to do is pull the trigger and trust me."

"And figure out the rope thing," Roxanne adds. She isn't one to get between Megamind and Metro Man when they're snipping at each other, but this is different.

Wayne shrugs. "Yeah. And that. Oh, and I'll need your best guess for where Minion would've gone, 'cause I'm not coming back 'til I find him." He frowns. "Little buddy, it's gonna be okay. Really. You don't gotta look like that."

Megamind jumps, then spins away, blinking furiously. "Harness," he says, his thoughts all in a tangle, "and rope. R-right! I'll just…g-go and, and get those."

He all but vaults over the stricken door. Anything to put distance between himself and that _gun_ , he can't think next to it with Metro Man talking like that; he can't think of anything but Minion as the gun swung around, Minion vanishing to nothing, Minion's shorn-off carapace sparking sheared-off wires when it toppled forward, and—

Metro Man flits out after him and pulls alongside, rolling halfway onto his back in the air. "Hey," he says in a low voice. "Listen. Do you trust me?"

"That's not the point," Megamind grits between clenched teeth, lengthening his strides. His chest is tight, and he takes a shuddery breath as the memory of Minion vanishing into nothing plays again on the backs of his eyes because all he can think is, _I have to do that again, this isn't going to work, he's going to die, he's going to DIE_ and it really is astonishing how badly that thought hurts.

"Yeah, it is the point, actually," Metro Man replies with surprising patience, and stretches into a lazy, fluid barrel roll. "Do you?"

Megamind shakes his head and gulps past the stone in his throat. He'd never thought he'd _ever_ find help like this from Metro Man's quarter. He's always worked alone, always—except for Minion. And Metro Man has always been the thorn in his side, always so full of himself, always everything Megamind could never be, always looking down his nose, but now _…_

"You're not expendable," he snaps, waspish again to drown out the way his blood is pounding in his ears, "if something goes wrong, if—if you don't come back, I can't…"

"Megamind, I said do you _trust_ me."

Megamind sighs, swallows, and glances over at him, finds the hero looking surprisingly earnest. "Yes," he admits, and hangs a left into his main storeroom.

The crooked smile Metro Man sends him looks almost relieved. "Then believe me when I say this will work. Yeah? Okay?"

Megamind hesitates, but finally, he has to nod. "Yeah," he says. What choice does he have? "Okay."

Metro Man pulls more upright in the air, curling into a half-crosslegged position and grinning as he grabs his toes in an enthusiastic gesture Megamind hasn't seen from him since middle school. "Cool," he says, bouncing in the air. " _Awesome_. So…any ideas on the rope thing?"

Megamind bites his lip but slowly nods again, glancing around, scanning the high shelves rising on either side of them. There's no organization, but he's never needed any; he remembers where he puts things. "A few."

"Sweet." Metro Man drifts along after him for a second on his invisible magic carpet, then chuckles. "Look at us, finally getting along, huh? On the same team? That was, like…four whole sentences when you didn't yell at me, just now, huh?" He drifts sideways, bumps Megamind's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Megamind says, but it's mostly reflex and it lacks any real conviction. Still, he rolls his eyes and manages a reasonably convincing sneer as he forces himself to stop thinking about Wayne trusting his life to his single greatest failure. "Ugh. Why are you following me?"

"Eh, I just…figured you could use an extra pair of hands. Your little robots are all dead."

"They're only sleeping, they'll be fine," Megamind scoffs, and pauses by a bin labeled _Strings & Things_. "But…all right. As long as you're here, hold these…oh, and I'll need more magnesium, I don't want to take any chances…"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roxanne clears her throat. "I have a question about the rope," she says, when they're unloading buckles and ropes and a three-thousand-pound winch onto the floor. "I was thinking…could we do something with light?"

Megamind cocks his head at her. "How do you mean?"

"When Wayne accelerates, it's basically a time-stop, right?" Roxanne says, glancing up at him for confirmation. "Well…it's still light out when he does it. I mean, the photons or…or whatever light is made of, they don't stop moving when everything else does."

Megamind blinks, then looks sharply at Metro Man. "Is that true?"

Metro Man shrugs. "Yeah, it's not dark or anything. How'd you think I get around?"

Megamind blinks again, then bursts into startled laughter. This, this was the distraction he'd needed to pull him away from this whole horrible venture. "Perfect," he says. He'd always figured the sped-up navigation was related to the Glau's interspatial phase awareness, but _light_ , that's totally mundane! He can work with that. He can do all _kinds_ of work with that. "Yes, we can do something with light, absolutely." Then he looks at Roxanne and cants his head again. "What made you think of that?"

"I…I don't know," she says, startled at the sudden attention. "Just…time stuff, I guess."

"Hmm." He studies her for a moment longer—that was the sort of thing Minion had used to say, offer something helpful right before Megamind could think of it, but…it's probably not worth mentioning. Mentioning it won't change anything.

He turns his attention back to Metro Man. "I'll need to run a few tests. Would you recognize the right kind of particle if you touched it?"

"Probably, but it'd have to be almost completely quantum."

"Okay." Megamind frowns. "Do you think…entangled quantum or the 'everything is nothing' kind of quantum?"

"The second one, probably." Metro Man stretches a little, looking nonplussed. "Maybe both? It'll taste like chicken when you get it right, that's all I know."

Roxanne has to laugh a little bit. "Wait, taste? How do you taste a particle?"

Metro Man grimaces. "You'll see."

"Is _that_ why chicken tastes like everything," Megamind murmurs, but his mind is worlds away already. This will take some time.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Metro Man winds up sitting cross-legged on the floor in another of Megamind's labs while Megamind fires a slapdash laser cannon at the hero's open mouth, making minute adjustments based on the Wayne's feedback and trying to refine what will eventually become a photolayer around a regular piece of nylon cord. Since light still exists when Metro Man hyper-accelerates, Megamind reasons that light, with its wave/particle nature, must be at least a little bit immune to time-space shenanigans. Metro Man agrees this makes sense, and while Megamind would not ordinarily put much store in what Metro Manthinks, he's never heard the hero speak so casually—and accurately—about cascading gaussian vector systems in quaternion terms before. It seems his old enemy has hidden depths.

Roxanne stands off to one side, leaning against the wall, wearing a lead apron, goggles, and an amused expression. She doesn't have much to contribute to this part beyond emotional support, and she knows it, but that's okay. Watching the two aliens interact is entertaining enough, and she'll add something if she feels it's needed.

"I don't even have _words_ for half these flavors," Metro Man complains, but after a while he says, "That one was a little poultry-ish." Megamind makes a small adjustment and fires again. Metro Man grimaces. "No, the other direction."

"Which other direction?" Megamind asks, exasperated. "There are six."

"How should I know? You're the genius, I'm just the guinea pig."

Megamind pokes his head out from behind the laser cannon, looking totally flabbergasted, but there's a wicked glint in his eye. " _Wow_ , really? What kind of rodent pellets did they _feed_ you?"

Metro Man rolls his eyes. "'The' guinea pig, not 'a' guinea pig."

"Nope, too late, you're Metro Mouse from now on." Megamind gives him a grin and disappears into his notebook again, writing down the specs of the particle that had been close to the right one. He wouldn't have had to write it down, before, but he's getting used to lists these days. "Okay, testing back-left spin, three percent waveform duality…"

Roxanne eventually sits down on the floor with a sigh. It looks like all this is going to involve more trial-and-error than she'd anticipated.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Five hours later, Metro Man and Roxanne are cranky, but Megamind is still bound and determined to get this right. His brain might be functioning differently these days, but he hasn't lost any of his old determination. "If youguys want to go home, fine," he says flatly. " _I'm_ staying here. There's still about forty things we haven't tried…well, okay, thirty-eight things, but…"

"Aaagh," Metro Man says, flopping onto his back and slinging an arm over his eyes, "I can't feel my _face_."

Roxanne groans and pushes herself to her feet. Her phone died about an hour ago; she hadn't charged it last night and she wasn't expecting to be scrolling through Facebook forever today. "Megamind, you need to take a break."

"Evil never sleeps," Megamind quips automatically, but Roxanne just rolls her eyes.

"Be that as it may, and as strange as it feels to be glad to see Evil playing with lasers again—"

"Oh, good, it's not just me," Metro Man murmurs without moving. "Wooo."

"—You _need_ to take a _break_." She goes over to Megamind and gives the laser a gentle shove so that it rolls a couple feet away, then tugs his notebook out of his mostly-unresisting fingers. "C'mon."

Megamind scowls at her. "Quitter," he says, but he doesn't resist when she pulls his pencil out from behind his ear.

"It's called a strategic retreat," she corrects him, "and we'll pick it back up after we eat something and clear our heads. Besides, don't you want to get the brainbots back up and running? They could get started cleaning up around here while we work." She puts a wheedling note in her voice and raises her eyebrows, hopeful that this suggestion will stir Megamind to other pursuits. "Then you won't have to sleep in a dirty, dusty bed tonight."

Megamind pulls up short, blinking a little, his eyebrows twitching together. "Sleep? Here? Me?"

"I…I thought we'd be staying here until this is solved," Roxanne says, a little taken aback at his apparent worry. _Then again, he's got kind of a one-track mind these days_ , she thinks ruefully, glancing down at the notebook and the pages he'd filled. They're totally Greek to her.

Megamind catches her eye when she looks back up. "We," he repeats, questioning.

Metro Man lifts his arm and waves to get their attention. " _I'm_ not staying here overnight," he announces. " _I_ have a job protecting the helpless citizens of Metro City."

Roxanne ignores him. "Yeah," she tells Megamind. "We. I'm not leaving you alone until all this is over, one way or another."

Megamind blinks at her, his heart full, his eyes thankfully empty. "A-all our stuff is at your apartment," he says, with a glance at the still-supine hero. "And if…if I'm going to sleep at all, it won't be here."

"Ah." Roxanne nods. "Right. Did you get _any_ sleep last night?"

"I…drifted. For a couple hours."

She reaches out and briefly cups his cheek. "Okay," she says. "We'll go home tonight, then."

Metro Man sits up, bracing his hands behind him and leaning back as he cocks his head. "Hold up," he says. "So, you two are actually sleeping together now? I missed that part, I think."

Megamind stiffens, immediately defensive, but Roxanne just laughs and slips an arm around his waist, hooking her thumb in one of his belt loops and tugging him close. "Didn't realize we had to tell you all the details," she says playfully. "That okay with you, Mom?"

Metro Man wiggles his feet at them and makes a disgruntled face. "Hey, it's none of my business. I was just curious what'll happen when we get Minion back. How's thatgonna work?"

Megamind pinches his lips together and twists his eyebrows together in the middle of his forehead, but his irritation is belied by the way he's slowly curling into Roxanne's side. "I'm not going back into villainy," he says flatly, then jumps as Roxanne reaches behind her back to grab his hand and pull his arm around her so she can place his hand on her hip. At that, his face relaxes into a weak smile. "Not after this," he continues in a softer voice. "I can't do this again."

"Huh. That's cool." Metro Man nods slowly. Then he looks up. "Hey, you lovebirds wanna get subs? There's a great sandwich place not far from here. C'mon, let's get lunch."

Roxanne nods back, then looks encouragingly at Megamind. "Let's," she urges. "I don't want you to get too wrapped up here."

Megamind swallows, wanting to go, needing to stay, feeling absurdly calm in the back of his head. "But," he says. "Minion."

"I know. But he's waited this long," Roxanne says, and tips her head forward to rest against his, "he can wait for you to eat some food."

Megamind sighs. This is true. "Okay," he agrees, thinking, _Lovebirds?_ "Let's get lunch."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

He's nervous as they land and approach the shop. This is his first time out and about in daylight without his uniform in…ever. And yes, he's flanked by Metro Man and Roxanne, but strangers' stares still prick him from all sides.

"Your face is gonna stick like that if you aren't careful, little buddy," Metro Man remarks, and Megamind realizes he's been glaring.

He manages to clear his expression, but it's hard. Glaring is safe; he always knows what his face is doing when he's glaring. He'll have to pay attention if he wants to keep his features neutral. Honestly, it's probably more than he can handle, and he's glad when Roxanne asks the hostess for a booth. Having his back exposed to the room is definitely out of the question if either of his companions wants him to participate in conversation.

Still, it's a nice-looking place, clean, with red trim Megamind tentatively approves of. The hostess all but flees after she seats them; that's…reassuring. He's still too jittery to look at the menu, at first, but then Metro Man snorts.

"What?" Roxanne says. Wayne is gazing over the back of the booth behind her and Megamind, grinning.

"Looks like the servers are drawing straws back there," he says, then nudges Megamind with a toe under the table. "I think you scared 'em."

"I'm not scary," Megamind protests. He's out of uniform and covered in dust, unarmored and unarmed. How can anyone possibly find him scary like this?

Roxanne laughs and elbows him low in his side, making contact well away from his gills—was that intentional? Mind-reading might have had some benefits. "You're not scary?" she scoffs. "Since when? You've been missing for a year and now you're doing something nobody's ever seen you do before. And you put how many years into making sure people were terrified of you?" She rolls her eyes at him, but her smile is warm. "Shut up."

There's not much he can say to that, so he drags his face into amusement and chuckles and elbows her back, remembering their midnight shove-war at the kitchen table not so long ago. "Make me."

A young woman clutching an order pad to her chest approaches their table. "Hi I'm Stacy and I'll be your server today what can I get you to drink?"

"Just water for me," Roxanne tells her, lips twitching. Megamind glances at her, unsure why she's trying so hard to pretend she doesn't notice the woman's obvious discomfort.

"I'll have a Sprite," Metro Man says. His act is much better than Roxanne's.

"Uhhh is Seven-Up okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Okay. A-and for you? S-sir?"

Megamind looks at her, frozen. Part of him wants to pull out Evil Grin #3, all teeth, eyes lit, and tell her, _blood_ , just to see what she does. Part of him wants to be scary—if they all think he is anyway, why not? It's what they expect. Give them what they want! But there's another part that just wants to know what a normal conversation with a stranger is like, and yet another part that's just plain tired of meeting everybody else's expectations. "Ehhh," he says, and realizes his mouth is open and he's been _dithering_ , and that's just. wrong. unacceptable. He jumps and clears his throat. "I. _I'm_. Um. Uh…"

"He'll have a Coke," Metro Man tells Stacy, whose frightened expression is slowly falling to puzzled at the way Megamind seems just as scared of her as she is of him.

"I'll…I'll h-have. Yes," Megamind agrees, too embarrassed to even be upset that Metro Man is ordering for him. Aw, crap, he can feel himself turning red. It really is a curse, how easily that happens. "Y-yes, that. _Coke_. Thanks."

"Sure, no problem," Stacy says, and as she leaves, she hears Metro Man say, "Little buddy, you are a piece of work." There's a groan and then a thump, and when she glances back, the blue supervillain has his head down on the table. She frowns, pensive, then disappears into the back.

"I miss my spikes," Megamind whines, muffled. Metro Man laughs and turns his attention to his menu.

"You're fine, plenty of people lock up in new situations," Roxanne says. "It's nothing she hasn't seen before. So…not to change the subject…"

"Yes, _please_ , let's change the subject," Megamind says fervently, sitting back up. Anything to draw focus away from his general failure at simple interactions! God, how _embarrassing_.

"Assuming we're right, and Minion is back in time, where would he be?" She reaches over and squeezes his hand. "Best guess."

That's not quite the subject Megamind would have picked, but—whatever! He'll take it. "That's a good question," he admits. "I'm not sure. He can't be pre-Lair, not with how I've configured the reconciliation device. The kind of energy needed to send anything back that far would have fried it. So, he has to be in the Lair, but…I think I'd remember a second Minion showing up. He wouldn't hide from me."

Roxanne seems to hesitate at that. "I'm…not so sure." She fiddles with her napkin-wrapped silverware. "You were a mess when I found you. No offense," she adds quickly, "it sounds like you held on for a long time, fighting to find him and get him back and all! But…maybe whatever happened to you happened to Minion too, but differently. It might have happened faster, or slower. We don't know."

"But he would have come to me," Megamind argues, reaching for his own silverware and tugging off the napkin ring. He blinks at how easily the ends come apart—it doesn't even tear, the glue just falls open—then busies himself folding a triangle from the corner so he can tear off a square. "Even though I wouldn't have known what was going on. I know him."

"You know him when he's linked to you." Roxanne bites her lip. "Minion is why you never had to make lists before, right? There's no way to know for sure, but…I think he's the one who handles the…the progression of things? Like tasks, and…and all the pieces in your fast brain, and putting the pieces together. Kind of like I do at work, with a feed in my ear and I'm watching the video screens and scanning through twitter for information."

Megamind watches her warily, his hands still working at folding the little paper square, and waits.

"So…what if the relationship goes both ways?" Roxanne finally says, watching his fingers move. "What if he uses your fast brain for…well, for some essential piece of his thought processes?"

"He might not have been able to evaluate his options clearly without Megamind's input?" Metro Man asks quietly, and Roxanne nods.

"That's pretty much it, yeah."

Megamind is silent for a long moment, bending the paper and pulling on corners, creasing along lines, before he says, "This relationship definitely goes both ways. It's mutually beneficial." Because, really, Roxanne shouldn't be able to learn to rewire sensitive, custom-made electronics in under an hour. She's smart, but her intelligence is a different kind of smart than that. The seismographier had been _years_ ago; she shouldn't have even remembered it as an option. That sort of thing is Megamind's job. And she shouldn't have thought to use light the way she had. It worries him badly. "For Minion," he says, and stops. "I don't know what it would be like," he eventually says. "I don't know exactly what he'd have lost, but…if he didn't find me, then he'd have gone into the lake."

Metro Man shifts in his seat. "The lake? Are you sure?"

Megamind nods without looking up. "Humans can sense things you can't; you can sense things they can't. It's the same with Minion and me. Minion is attuned to…rhythms, I guess." He shrugs. "The moon and the sun. The waves in the lake would be comforting to him. And he is fully aquatic." He sets a tiny, lopsided paper crane on the table, then sets himself to making a second one. He pulls his gloves off, this time—creasing the paper is difficult without being able to use his nails.

Roxanne sits forward a little, her head on one side. "Wait," she says. "What was that about humans sensing things Metro Man can't?"

The hero sounds embarrassed. "It's not major stuff," he says, but Megamind grins sharply and fixes Metro Man with a sly grin that looks almost exactly like one of his old ones.

"Oh no? How about that time you got into the fight with the wind turbine?"

"It wasn't a fight," Metro Man protests. "I just…kinda…ran into it."

"It ran into _you_ , and you panicked and cut off two of its arms." Megamind cocks an eyebrow, smirking, and turns to Roxanne. "The faster something moves, the harder it is for him to see in the normal light spectrum," he tells her. "The ends of wind turbine blades, especially on the really big turbines, are almost invisible to him."

"Shut up," Metro Man says under his breath, shaking his head, "shut up, Megamind, don't you dare."

"We had a school trip, and Don Quixote over there was showing off," Megamind continues brightly, and Metro Man groans at the nickname. "I'll never forget the noise it made. _SPAK!_ " He drops his half-finished crane and claps his hands together, flat and glancing off each other like he's crashing cymbals. "I laughed for _days_."

"Yeah, okay, thanks," Metro Man grumbles, as Roxanne cracks up. "I can see them just fine when I'm focusing on energy transference."

"Yes, but you weren't, were you? You were filtering visible light." He sneers. "Amateur."

"Hey, we're both self-taught; you're no more of a literal professional than me," Metro Man points out.

Megamind snorts and waves a hand. "Semantics. But I should tell you," he adds, sobering and returning to the unpleasant present, "Minion is also more in tune with his instincts than I am, so I don't know if he'll be…all there." He hesitates, then tells Wayne, "Don't let him bite you. I don't know if he'd do you any damage, but he's venomous."

Stacy reappears at the table so abruptly that all three of them jump. "Hi here're your drinks have you decided what you want to eat?" she says in a rush, and Megamind immediately feels himself clam right back up again. Ugh _,_ what is _with_ this? This is the worst. He used to be so good at handling the public. Well, _bad_ , really, but he'd been darn good at bad. But this is just…this is just plain bad.

A slight tapping sound gets his attention, and he glances down and then sharply back up again. Stacy isn't looking at him, but she _is_ tapping a long, painted fingernail on the tabletop near where she'd set his drink—along with a small spiral notebook and a pencil. Megamind breathes, and he has his order written down by the time Roxanne is finished asking for a Reuben on wheat instead of rye. He's also written _THANK YOU_ at the bottom, in all capital letters, underlined.

Okay. Maybe Roxanne was right. If the waitress is so used to people needing to write their orders that she brings a separate notepad, discreetly…then maybe it's not so bad after all. Maybe it does count as some version of normal. Even if it's embarrassing, he's clearly not the only one having this problem.

"'Kay, I'll be right back with those," Stacy promises, and takes the little notebook and hurries away again.

Okay. He can do this. And if… _when_ Minion gets back, it will be easier. So much easier if he can think with his whole brain again, instead of just pieces of it at a time. So much easier if he can talk to his best friend again.

But if Minion is somewhere in the past, then…he's been there this whole time, waiting for Megamind to come get him, and…

He reaches for his Coke and chugs about half of it, hoping the sugar rush will help. It doesn't. _I'll get him back_ , he tells himself. _I'll get him back. We. We will get him back and everything will be okay. We'll get him back and everything will be fixed_.

 _And then what?_

He wants—he wants to reach out to Roxanne. That's still such a new feeling, this wanting to seek physical reassurance, that he doesn't realize what it is at first. And then, when he finally does identify it, he still has to push past his gut reaction: _don't be ridiculous, you know you aren't allowed to do that_.

He slides his hand crabways on the red, fake-leather seat of the booth until he's able to hook his long fingers over Roxanne's hand and curl them into her palm. _Ha_ , he tells his gut when she looks at him and smiles, _in your face_.

"If this works," he says out loud, "what happens to you?"

Roxanne blinks at him. "Hm? What do you mean, what happens to me?"

"I mean…" He squeezes gently, trying not to show how worried he is. "If I…re-bond with Minion, the link…it will probably break the link I have with you. I don't know if this can go three ways. I'll be me again. The old me. I'll. Be able to think again." He swallows, glances down at their hands. "Will you…are you sure you can still…"

"I told you before, I'm still up for whatever we can do," Roxanne tells him, turning her hand over and netting her fingers with his. "You're my friend, first and foremost. Anything on top of that is bonus, but I'm not just going to abandon you as soon as Minion gets back." She ducks her head a little, trying to make eye contact. "Okay?"

Megamind blinks at her and nods, his expression unreadable. And hopefully he isn't able to tell what Roxanne is feeling, either, because right now, she's feeling deeply conflicted.

On one hand, she really likes this new, quiet Megamind who shares his life with her. On the other hand, she hates that he's only like this because he's effectively had part of his mind ripped out and replaced with something he isn't fully sure how to use, and she's really hoping Minion is okay and they're able to re-establish whatever bond they'd had. As much as she likes Megamind now, she misses his quick smile and his ability to be entertained by small things.

She just hopes the feeling is mutual, and she's hoping to any god that'll listen that Megamind still wants her when Minion returns.


	11. Chapter 11

I LIVE I DIE I LIVE AGAIN

I was gonna end this chapter in an even worse place. Buuuuut I didn't want to leave you on that cliffhanger, and I wanted to keep a mostly-done chapter in reserve.

That, on its own, wouldn't have taken this long, but THEN stuff happened in the fic and I realized there were two places the fic could go. One of these places would require me to lay some advance groundwork so that it wouldn't wind up coming out of left field, but the problem was that I couldn't tell which way the fic would end up going! So I had to get almost the whole the fic drafted and see where it was going before I could post this chapter.

And also tax season was a thing that was happening.

In any case, apologies for the delay, and on the plus side, weekly-ish updates can now resume! There might be one more hiatus before the end, but we'll see.

(also hey remember when I said this was gonna be a short fic?)

(ha)

(that was great)

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 11**

 **Mercury – Sleeping At Last**

It's past eleven o'clock at night when Megamind and Metro Man finally hit the frequency of particle they need for the rope that will keep Metro Man grounded in their timeline, and Metro Man decides that it's time for all of them to get some sleep. Megamind protests but doesn't put up as much of a fight as he would have a year ago; Roxanne is already dozing in the corner, and he really _does_ need to sleep.

So he bites his tongue and nods agreement, and settles for activating the brainbots and setting them on cleanup duty. At least the place won't be a total wreck when Minion comes back, he reasons; that's worth delaying for a while, right?

 _Ha_. But he can pretend he believes it.

Metro Man drops him and Roxanne off at the apartment and Roxanne immediately goes inside to get ready for bed, but Megamind lingers on the porch. There's a question that's been knocking around in his head with increasing urgency for almost two days, and if he doesn't get some kind of answer soon, he's going to _explode_.

"Something on your mind?" Metro Man asks when Megamind remains by the balcony railing instead of following Roxanne inside. "What's up?"

Megamind leans his elbows on the rail and frowns down at his hands. "You're going to a lot of trouble for not a lot of payoff," he replies slowly. It was strange enough when Roxanne did it, but t _his_ is just a whole other level of bizarre. "I don't…really know where to go with that. _You_ don't help _me_. I don't know what changed."

Metro Man, who'd been about to hop into the air when he'd noticed Megamind wasn't moving, settles back onto his heels instead and frowns at his ex-nemesis. "A bunch of stuff," he says slowly. "It sucks not having my little buddy around to break up the monotony. Never thought I'd say this, but I actually kinda miss you."

Megamind lets out an incredulous scoffing sound. "That's not all of it, though," he says. For some reason, it's easier to say what he means to his old enemy than it is with Roxanne. "You must have some kind of alter…ulter… _other_ motive. For doing all this." He presses his lips together, starts tugging at his gloves.

After a pause, Metro Man coughs awkwardly. "I mean, I'm a hero." He shrugs. "Helping people who need help is…it's what I _do_."

"Not to me, you don't," Megamind says. There's no anger in his voice, and that's actually what makes Wayne wince, but Megamind is looking at his gloves and doesn't see. "So, what's the real reason?"

"Okay. Uh…look, you know how, earlier, you said you weren't gonna be a villain anymore? Were you serious about that?"

Megamind turns his head and glances up at him. Metro Man is standing with both feet on the ground for once, an almost worried expression on his face, and he's chewing the inside of his cheek, something he only does when he's attempting intelligent thought—which, in Megamind's experience, has about a thirty percent success rate.

He turns back to stare at the toy cars honking past miniscule pedestrians seventeen stories down. "You can hear when I'm lying," he says. " _You_ know I was serious, why even ask?"

"I…well, that's…more of a sight thing, actually," Metro Man says. "And there's a difference between outright lying and…and just, meaning something when you _say_ it, but not meaning it overall." He sighs, rolls his shoulders, shrugs a little. "But, okay. You meant it." He shoves a huge hand backwards through his hair, making it stick out at odd angles—he really does use too much product—and flops down into one of Roxanne's Adirondack chairs, bowing the legs out.

"I _wasn't_ gonna say anything," he says. "But…you asked, and…and we're sort of cool now, I guess? So I'm just gonna lay it out there. Okay?"

Interested in spite of himself, Megamind turns more fully towards him as he nods. Metro Man doesn't usually tell him anything about how his various senses work; Megamind has had to figure them out on his own, over the years. And Metro Man's hands catch his eye. They're _open_. They aren't usually open. Usually they're fists.

'Usually' is becoming increasingly useless.

"The thing is," the hero says, "the way things used to be? Before Minion poofed, you were up there. I mean, you weren't on _patrol_ , but…you gave just as much as I did. Oh, d _on't even start_ ," he adds, waving to stop Megamind when he scowls and opens his mouth to argue. "Just don't. Okay? You're a fucking philanthropist and we both know it, so don't even bother."

Megamind snaps his mouth shut again, startled at the flat profanity. Metro Man rarely swears, mostly due to his job. He'd said in an interview, once, that he takes his role as a role model very seriously; it's just easier if he doesn't even get into the habit of doing things that might compromise his wholesome image. _How unapologetically dull can you get?_ Minion had said. _Pathetic,_ had been Megamind's response. Either way, Metro Man dropping an f-bomb is an attention-grabber.

Megamind opts to continue not to speak. That's easiest. And safest.

After a minute, Metro Man sighs a bit and rubs at his eyebrows. "So, anyway…I dunno if you've noticed, but the crime rate in Metro's basically skyrocketed over the past year? I don't even know what you were doing to keep stuff under control, but whatever it was, it _worked_. I've been going out of my mind trying to keep up without you." The chair he's sitting in is low-set, so he's looking up at his arch-rival instead of down; the angle is unusual and unsettling and Megamind doesn't like it. A change in perspective he could have dealt with, if that was all that changed, but in combination with everything Metro Man is saying…No.

"And that's why I'm helping you out, here," Metro Man continues, oblivious to Megamind's consternation. "We never worked together, but we _were_ …a team. Sort of. And I'm having a nightmare of a time trying to run this city without you doing…" He waves again, wordless for a moment. "Doing whatever it is you did, I guess."

Megamind frowns, confused. He'd handled things as best he could when he needed to, but that's just looking after his stuff, isn't it? The city is _his_. Metro City is his home, and home isn't something he can take for granted, and he'll defend his home if he has to. Against both internal and external threats. That's what everyone does, isn't it?

Apparently not.

"Like…so, it's been, what, a year for you?" Metro Man asks into the silence, and Megamind nods. "Okay, well, for me, it's been closer to five. I've spent more time _outside_ time than I have _in_ it, just trying to get from one crisis to another in time. And trying to _sleep!_ Look at this!" he exclaims, sitting up and gesturing at the sides of his head suddenly enough to make Megamind skip back even further. "I'm going gray! I'm barely thirty-five and I'm going _gray!_

"But I guess it's closer to forty, now. Forty-four? Ish?" He wiggles a hand in the air. "It's a little hard to calculate, I didn't figure out what was going on until a couple years ago.

"I—I mean," he says, because Megamind still hasn't said anything and hasn't given any indication that he's going to, "even _ignoring_ the fact that I'm gonna die of old age in the next ten years if I don't get some kind of help, you were _so invested_ in this place! I never figured that out, since, you know, they all treated you kind of like trash. But let's face it, if they ever found out? Everything you did for them?"

Megamind scrunches his nose and tries not to think about how much time Metro Man's been spending off the clock. "I donate money here and there," he allows quietly. But Metro Man just _looks_ at him.

"Eleven point nine billion dollars, Megamind," he says flatly. " _Megamind_. Eleven. Point. Nine. _Billion_."

Megamind throws up his hands. "I'm a supervillain!" he exclaims. "I have more cash than I can spend in a lifetime, and city planning is expensive! What am I _supposed_ to do with it all?"

"Sit on it," Metro Man says, eyebrows up. "Fritter it away like the rest of us."

Megamind scowls. "And they say _I'm_ crazy. Anyway," he says, standing up a little straighter, scowling a little harder, "how do _you_ know what I've been doing? I use your name for our annual donation to the schools, but other than that—"

"I've got friends," Metro Man says. "Friends who do numbers. And friends who are cops. And friends who are lawyers. I've got a lot of friends."

"Lucky you," Megamind sneers.

Metro Man ignores this. "But the important ones here are the friends who do numbers. Specifically, the budget numbers for the city over the past few years, 'cause I got curious. See, the schools in low-income districts were pretty good even before you and I started really throwing money into education, but you know _most_ of the city's funds have always been aimed at fixing the damage from our battles. So why have our public schools always been so good?" He leans back a little, frowning. "Metro's arts and science programs are some of the best in the _country_. They were great even _before_ that bill got passed to decouple public school funding from property tax values. Nice work on that, by the way," he adds, suddenly looking sly, and Megamind looks away. "That must've taken you a few years to set up, huh?"

"Nearly ten," Megamind mutters. Pretty much his whole adult career. He'd had to go through a lot of proxies for that one.

Metro Man nods, satisfied. "Our veterans' services are pretty stellar, too, and we've got some seriously sweet city-run welfare and disability programs, from what I hear. And our roads are fantastic. So, Metro City—despite its size, despite the fact that crime here has never been more organized—is a safe, clean, well-kept place to live. All this, and the property and state taxes aren't wildly above average.

"And speaking of taxes, the feds recently passed something, too," he continues, netting his hands behind his head and lounging back in his chair, looking smug, "what was it…oh, yeah, I remember. Something about how if there's any gain on the value of buildings that get destroyed and then rebuilt as a result of hero-villain confrontations, it gets deferred, so the sudden improvements don't screw over people who can't afford to pay taxes on them. Automatic like-kind exchange rules. Right?"

"It's a little more complicated than that," Megamind says stiffly, and Metro Man laughs.

"So that _was_ you," he says. "I thought so."

Megamind shakes his head again. They shouldn't be talking about all this. _Nobody_ should be talking about all this. He's not used to having everything set out in front of him and it's got him feeling defensive and strange; good deeds or not, his efforts tend to backfire on him when other people find out. Better to stay anonymous. Better not to have anyone know what he's doing. He'd _thought_ he'd covered his tracks well enough, but…

"You helped," he accuses. "You helped, on that last one. And you can't _prove_ anything."

"It was a good idea; of course, I helped," Metro Man scoffs. "And take it easy, little buddy. I'm not _blaming_ you. I'm trying to _thank_ you."

"I don't need to be _thanked_ ," Megamind snaps. He shoves off the balcony railing and stalks across the deck to lean back against the glass double doors instead, scowling so hard it's a wonder he can see anything from under his eyebrows. "'You break it, you buy it' isn't a new idea. I just took it a couple steps further, is all." He huffs. "I don't know why you're making such a big _deal_ about it."

"Nobody takes responsibility for their actions anymore," Metro Man says. "Except you."

"And you," Megamind reminds him, nettled.

"Mostly 'cause I know you'll make my life a living hell if I don't," Metro Man says with a grimace. "Look, this is—this is all beside the point. It's whatever. It's in the past. What I'm trying to say is, the city needs you. _I_ need you."

And—wow, okay, _that_ defuses Megamind entirely, renders him totally speechless. After a few awkward seconds, Metro Man shrugs again and looks away. "And…you need Minion. So, if I can help make that happen, I'll do it."

"That," Megamind says, his mind spinning with so much bewildered indignation that he doesn't know what to say first, "that doesn't. You can't. What? No, you…you can't just…look, I've _hurt_ people!" This is wrong. This isn't right. Rose-tinted goggles, or whatever they are, that's what Metro Man has on right now. "You can't just ignore that! I've—I've stolen and blackmailed and, and operated under false pretenses, I've—destroyed property, I've hurt families, I…I've tried to _kill_ you. It doesn't follow that you'd want to _help_ me, I…"

"If you wanted to kill me, I would be dead," Metro Man interrupts him. "You sure didn't try very hard."

Megamind huffs. "Not trying as hard as I could have doesn't mean I _wasn't trying_ ," he says flatly. He rolls his eyes, twirls his wrist in a placating gesture. "Okay, it was fun, I admit. I wasn't ready to give up the game." Then he points at Metro Man. "Cats and mice play, too, Metro Mahn. Game or no game: at the end of the day, _the mouse winds up dead_ _._ "

"Do you _want_ to kill me?"

Megamind blinks, recoils. "What the hell kind of question is _that?_ " he demands after a shocked little pause.

"An honest one." Metro Man stares up at him, his expression challenging. "Do you. Want. To kill me. Yes or no, Megamind, it's pretty simple." He scowls. "Or do you just not care one way or the other?"

Megamind stares back for a long moment, but it's more because he's annoyed than uncertain. "No," he finally snaps.

"No, you don't care?"

" _No_ , I don't want to kill you," Megamind snarls, furious at having been forced to admit it, "but if you ask, _did_ I—"

"Yeah, but that's not what I asked." Metro Man shakes his head. "If I was going to hold that grudge, we'd never get anything done. So, all's well that ends well," he says firmly. "And game or no game: at the end of the day, you've given more to Metro than anybody could ever ask. You couldn't do any of it where people might see you, and nobody's thanked you for any of it, and you can't tell anybody, and that sucks." He looks up again. He's really scowling now, and he's aiming it at Megamind, but it's not _at_ Megamind, for once, it's…Megamind blinks and deflates somewhat. Metro Man is…offended? On his behalf? It seems that way, because the next thing out of his mouth is, "That _sucks_ , and it's my fault. Isn't it?"

Megamind blinks a few times as he tries to reassess the tone of the conversation, and then he finally blows a sigh through his nose and reluctantly decides, okay, it's a _little_ bit nice to be appreciated, even if it feels weird. He might as well stop trying to derail everything Metro Man is saying. He's never _needed_ a pat on the back, but…fine, okay, this could be nice. And it's not really Metro Man's fault that everything changed, and…

And as awkward as it is and as uncomfortable as it makes him, it's probably good that this conversation is happening. Clear the air.

 _Ugh_ , he thinks, but he also makes a conscious effort to unruffle his feathers. "I…I guess," he allows. "But I made my own choices. Nobody twisted my arm."

Metro Man shoots him a level glance. "Nobody?" he asks. "Ever? I remember a couple times."

Megamind's answering stare looks like a warning. "It's a figure of speech," he says. "Don't make me get literal, you won't like it." Friend or enemy or _whatever_ the heck Metro Man is to him now, the truce has been sort of nice so far, in spite of Megamind's lingering unease. Bringing up the two dislocated shoulders and the hyperextended elbow would rock the boat a little too much for his liking.

 _Friends?_ he wonders. _Are we friends, now?_ The epithet feels supremely odd when he tries to apply it to Metro Man, but…he's realizing that he's starting to actually like the other alien. He doesn't _want_ to, but there it is.

Metro Man's lips thin, but he jerks his head in a nod. "Fine. But, listen, just…if you'd thought you could be something else, wouldn't you have done that instead?" There's half a challenge in his tone again, which rankles, but it sounds like a challenge to _confide_ rather than confront.

Megamind squeezes his nails into his palms and says nothing. Easiest. Safest.

Eventually, Metro Man looks back up at him again and says, "Look. Just one more honest answer, okay? I guess this is kind of my point, here." Megamind nods once, almost imperceptibly. "If you thought you could be a hero instead of a villain—if you thought you could help people out in the open—wouldn't you do it?"

Even in summer, it's chilly at night. The glass is cool at Megamind's back and the wind feels thin through his sweater. He stares at his feet. _No_ , he wants to say, _I'm a villain, I love my city but I_ love villainy, too; _I_ love _the machines and the problem-solving and the spikes and the dark and the cold and the solitude and the knowledge that one of these days I'm going to die alone and, considering my career, it'll most likely hurt_ …

"Yes," he admits quietly, after a long few seconds, and saying it out loud doesn't ache the way he'd expected. "Yes, I…probably would. Back then. Now?" He shakes his head, glances at Metro Man through his eyelashes and then away. "I wouldn't know how."

"I could teach you," Metro Man says. Megamind's head snaps up and he stares, but Metro Man's expression holds no mockery. His eyebrows are up and he looks almost startled, but he's not laughing. "I'm serious. I could teach you. I _would_ , if you asked—I just told you, I need you." He sits forward in the chair, which squeals in protest. His hands are still open. "The city's going to pot without you; I don't know enough of the specifics of what you were doing to take on your role _and_ mine. So, whatever you wind up doing after this…look, would you just consider it? Please?"

Megamind's mouth is hanging open again. He's not sure when that happened. He's also not sure what his stomach is doing all the way down in his boots, but he's not surprised to find it there. In spite of how annoyed he'd been just a few seconds ago, in spite of how weirded-out he still feels…this is a _chance_. This is a chance to do something new, to _build_ something _new_ ; it's something he's never tried, _and_ he and Minion wouldn't have to figure it out alone, this time.

"I," he manages, and _fuck_ _,_ it's the restaurant all over again. He drags his mouth closed and kicks his brain back into gear. "You mean that?" He straightens, pulls his head up. "You. Really think I could? Do? What you do?"

"I remember, even when we were in school, you weren't a bad kid. Not 'til you wanted to be. You were just…" He shrugs. "Blue."

"And you were awful," Megamind replies sharply. Metro Man offers him a weak grin.

"Yeah. You're not kidding," he agrees. "But look, you don't have to _like_ me, I just…I just need to know you're willing to work _with_ me. Please." He grimaces again. "Otherwise I'm gonna have to bring in outside help, and I _really_ don't wanna do that. Other heroes don't _get_ it. And I'm not sure I could explain…this." He gestures back and forth between the two of them. "Our arrangement."

Megamind swallows hard. "I'll…work with you," he hears himself say. His heart is turning somersaults and he thinks he might throw up—but this is what he's always wanted, isn't it? A chance. That's all. Just a chance to try to get the same things that come to everybody else, and now, here it is, here's his chance.

He only had to lose Minion to get it.

"Oh, thank _God_ ," Metro Man groans, and scrubs both hands down his face before finally cracking a relieved-looking grin over at his former nemesis. "Thanks, man. I mean it, seriously, I know you and I don't really have a good history, but that's _such_ a relief to hear."

Megamind shrugs and looks back down at his hands. "You're helping me get Minion back," he says quietly. He wants to sit down, wants to put his forehead on his knees and pretend the world doesn't exist for a while. He forces himself to continue standing, instead, and keeps his hands and voice steady. "That…that'll smooth over a lot. With me. Minion too."

At that, Metro Man tilts his head. "Yeah, uh, about that. Are you okay?" Then, when Megamind only blinks at him again, he says, "It's just, I know you were working on moving forward, and…"

 _Oh. That_. Megamind lets out a harsh laugh. "Yes. Well, if…if this _doesn't_ work, I'll probably go right back to square one. I'm _not_ looking forward to that." He swallows. "I'm trying not to think about it," he says. "I'm. Trying to trust you. You said this would work. So."

Metro Man nods hard. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah. And it will! I'm positive."

"You better be." Megamind glances at him, finally sends him a small, pained smile. "I suppose you'll have to teach me how to…how to Justice. You can't disappear on me just yet."

"I kinda figured Minion for a saltwater fish," Metro Man says, grinning again but otherwise ignoring that. "But you said he'll be in the lake?"

Megamind shrugs again. "If he went _anywhere_ , that's…

"Look, I should go to sleep." He's starting to feel shivery; they've been talking about this for too long. If he talks about it or thinks about it much longer, he's going to turn into an inarticulate mess again. And now, with all this _talking_ _with_ Metro Man instead of _screaming at_ him, this promise of a potential future that might not end with him bleeding out on the pavement and everyone being happy he's gone… "I'm. I need to sleep."

 _Please, God. If you're there, if you're listening,_ please, _let this work_. Megamind is not one to pray, but for this? He'll try anything.

"Oh, right," Metro Man exclaims, floating up out of his chair and swinging so he's vertical in the air, looking sheepish, "yeah! Big day tomorrow, eh? Sorry. Yeah, you go to bed, I'm gonna do one more flyby and hit the hay myself. See you tomorrow—I'll be here around eight, again, okay?"

Megamind gives a jerky sort of nod and leaves the porch doors unlocked when he closes them behind him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roxanne isn't in his bed. She's lying in hers when Megamind goes to brush his teeth; he thinks she's asleep so he tries to stay quiet while he finishes his nightly routine, but when he opens the bathroom door she sits up a little.

"Hey," she says quietly. "You…do you want to stay with me tonight? Or…?"

Megamind considers this. His bed in the living room is cold, but it's safe; he can break down there if he needs to. Then again, he could break down here, too. Decisions, decisions.

He tries for honesty. "I shouldn't," he says. "I won't sleep well. I don't want to disturb you."

"Do you _want_ to?" Roxanne asks, and Megamind gives a slow nod.

She grins sleepily and reaches for him. "Then enough with 'shouldn't.' C'mere, I need my pillow with bones."

He sits on the edge of her bed for a moment, feeling strange and wondering if it will pass before finally deciding he doesn't care, and then he crawls under her covers—they're heavier than his, and the extra weight is comforting—and stretches out on his back. Roxanne puts her head on his chest, hugs her arm across his middle, lies full-length against him and curves her body to fill in all his hard lines and angles. She gives a pleased little hum, then says, "Disturb me all you want, Brainmate. What's up?"

He struggles for a moment before he finds his words again, which is absurd; it's the same thing that's been up for more than a year. "Minion," he murmurs after a while. "I can't stop thinking. If this goes wrong."

"Well, you'll finally have defeated Metro Man," Roxanne says lightly, "but I suspect that's not what you mean."

 _No, I don't want to kill you_. Megamind's laugh sounds forced even to his own ears, and he shivers, then freezes when Roxanne rolls away. But all she says is, "Okay, come over here, lie on me like I was just on you. I bet my shoulder can support your massive brain, what do you think?"

He blinks at her, confused, but he's already starting to follow her over. "Why…?"

"'Cause I want to hold you, instead of you holding me. Come _on_."

This is entirely new, but he does his best. He's a little iffy about resting his head on her shoulder and upper chest—it seems indecent, somehow, even though it's not like his face is in her boobs or anything. Most of his cranium is on the pillow, so weight probably isn't an issue, but he's still concerned about that, too.

But when she wraps her arm up around his back and strokes her other hand carefully down his side and presses a kiss to the curve of his skull, he has to admit that this _really_ does feel nice. His throat tightens, and the thought skips through his mind that he wants Minion back if only so that it means he can stop being a _weepy mess_. Ugh, this is _embarrassing_.

But…Roxanne smells like home, because right now home smells like toothpaste and hemp shampoo and lavender pillow spray. And her breath is warm on his skin and her heart is loud under his ear and Megamind is so full of fear and terrible joy and pain that he doesn't even know what to _do_ with himself, and he suspects he'd feel at least some of this even if he did have Minion with him.

"I don't want to go back to how it was," he says. He won't be able to explain the conversation he'd just had with Metro Man if Roxanne asks, but the simple statement seems to more or less cover it. "I don't. I _can't_."

"You won't, it's okay."

"But I want to _laugh_ again," he says lowly. "I want to _make_ things. I miss it. I miss my hands and I miss my brainbots and I need Minion for that."

"I miss you laughing," Roxanne replies, sounding frank. "And I miss Minion, too. He's a great little fish. And if this doesn't work—whoa, hey! I think it _will_ work, don't get so _tense_ , but _if_ _—_ then I'll help you pick up the pieces. I told you before. You'll stay here with me, it'll be okay."

"But I can't do that _forever_ ," Megamind protests, sounding like his old self for a moment. "I have no _purpose_ here. I…I act like your minion, that's it. I should be _doing_ _things_. I'm like…like…"

"Like a bullfighter with no bull to fight?" she asks.

"More like a bullfighter trying to fight in scuba gear," he grumbles.

"Well, then, maybe we'll reach the point where you _can_ go back to the Lair and you _can_ make things, and we'll do that," Roxanne says, shrugging a little and chuckling at the mental image. "But _when_ we _do_ get Minion back, I bet he'll be so proud of you. Branching out, making friends. Patching things up with Wayne. And learning to do Minion's job, too! Maybe the little guy can take a day off, huh?"

Megamind grins. "He'd like that." Then he sighs a little, and his arm tightens on Roxanne's waist. "Thank you. I'm sorry I'm such a…a wet blanket."

"You're _not_ a wet blanket, you're my bone-pillow brainmate best-ever boyfriend and I love you." She squeezes him, and he squeezes back, and they lie together and breathe for a while until Roxanne says, "Do you feel like you'll be able to sleep? Or shall I hit you with a brick?"

"No," Megamind says, smiling thinly. "I'll be okay. Am—I—your boyfriend?"

"I'd like you to be," she says. "But it's up to you. …Do you want me to call Metro Man and get _him_ to brick you?"

"No," he says again, and Roxanne hears the small smile in his voice, "I think I'll manage. And I think—I think I'd like to be. Yours."

"Good," she says. "Kiss me?"

She doesn't have to ask twice. Megamind rises to one elbow and braces his hand on the other side of Roxanne's body, then dips his head so he can catch her mouth with his, and he feels her _smiling_ again, at _him_ , and then she's holding his chin and stroking her thumb down his goatee, and he wants…he wants _hands_ , hands on warm skin, more than this, he wants…hands in hair, hands on lips, hand-in-hand, gloveless. Maybe not tonight, because even his bones are tired and he does desperately need to sleep, but he _wants_ , and it surprises him. He's never bothered wanting, before. He'd never thought he could _have_.

He pulls back while she's still smiling, taps his forehead against hers, brushes the tips of their noses together. Roxanne laughs and slides her hand around to the back of his neck, under his skull, and she pulls him into a second, briefer kiss. And _yes_ , Megamind could _definitely_ go for hands on necks, he could do that.

Eventually he settles back down onto her shoulder, and he thinks that's the end of it. But then she hums again, kisses his head again, and it's all he can do not to tremble. That's another thing: he'd never thought _anyone_ would be okay with his head. He'd thought someday, _if_ he found somebody, _if_ he was lucky enough, he'd need to create a disguise of some kind so they wouldn't have to stare at his malformation. Maybe see if he could do something substantial with that idea he'd had for a hard-light overlay.

But Roxanne…she kisses his bare scalp, she touches foreheads, she doesn't seem to mind that he's too small and too skinny and all-over blue, or that his torso's too long and his legs are too short and his head is just totally deformed by all human standards. He's too much all the wrong things, and she doesn't seem to mind at _all_.

Then she stirs, and Megamind's focus sharpens. "I was surprised you stayed outside as long as you did," she says, following this with an absolutely tremendous yawn. "Kinda figured you an' Wayne would come inside."

"Sorry," he says, and she shakes her head.

"No, no, don't apologize, 's just…you never went out on the deck before, never mentioned it or anything," she says, running a hand absently up and down over his scalloped ribs. She tries to steer clear of his gills, but she's not sure if she's successful or not. "I thought you didn't like it. Are you okay going outside? Or is it the whole…hiding thing? It's okay because it was dark out?"

Megamind is quiet, though Roxanne can swear she can _hear_ his brain humming away. She keeps petting him, waiting for him to speak. If she keeps petting him, she won't fall asleep.

Eventually he sighs, and his arm around her midriff tightens ever so slightly. "Your balcony is high," he says. "That's all."

She frowns a little. "I didn't know you're afraid of heights." He'd seemed fine flying earlier.

"I'm not." He sighs. "You know I…went into the drains. I'd been staying low. Before you found me.

"Thank you for that," he adds, frowning a little against her shoulder. "For bringing me home. I don't think I've said that."

Roxanne smiles. "Best decision I ever made," she whispers, and feels his ribs move when his breathing changes. When she startles him in a good way, he does this thing where he gasps _out_ through his nose, hollowing his chest, and he usually follows it up with a bewildered little smile. It's adorable. She likes doing that to him—partly because she likes surprising him, and partly because she's waiting to see if she can drive the heartsick look out of his eyes.

All he says in response, though, is, "Yes. Yes, agreed! But your apartment isn't low, so. I stay inside." He says this like it's a full explanation, but it isn't, not at all, not really. Roxanne must have conveyed her confusion somehow, because she feels him pause again, and then he says, "I thought, when I left the Lair…I should avoid high places. For a while." He shrugs gently. "So."

That takes a moment to sink in. When it does, Roxanne rolls towards him, wriggling around until she's on her side with one arm under his neck and the other up around him in a fierce hug, her face smushed in with his adam's apple poking into her eye and her lips in the hollow at the base of his throat. Megamind grunts and stiffens, surprised at the flurry of movement and the change in position.

"Okay?" he asks, sounding amused, when Roxanne subsides. He slowly relaxes back against her, slipping his fingers back into her hair—it's become one of his favorite things to do since she'd shown him it was allowed.

"Yup," she says, sounding muffled. "I'm great. I'm awesome. I'm never going to stop hugging you."

Megamind wrinkles his nose, pleased, and tucks his chin over the crown of her head. Her hair tickles, but he's not complaining. "I won't say no to that," he tells her. "But…hang on, come here," and he rolls the rest of the way over onto his back, dragging her with him; his arm had been trapped and she'd have woken up with a crick in her neck if they'd stayed on their sides. As it is, they wind up back where they started—Megamind supine, Roxanne prone, both of them wrapped around each other.

"An' when we get Minion back," she sighs, "everything'll be great. Hard, I mean, for a while," and she yawns again, "but overall great. Hope he's okay. Love you."

It only takes a couple minutes for her grip on him to loosen and her breathing to slow, and Megamind knows she's fallen asleep. He's not far, himself—after his lack of sleep the night before and the emotionally trying day he's had, his body and mind are both pretty well shot. Still, he can't help thinking. It's a blessing and a curse, especially since he seems to have no control over where his mind goes anymore.

If they do get Minion back…

Minion is worth the possibility of losing Roxanne. Megamind isn't even going to _try_ to kid himself about that one. But he wants to be _selfish_ , he wants _both_ , wants both of them so badly he can _taste_ it. He wants Roxanne in his arms and Minion as his strong left hand, and even though the universe _loves_ to makes his life hell…even though he can't help but think he'll only be able to keep one of them, he's prepared to fight tooth and nail to keep them both.

He'll do whatever it takes. He will get Minion back by any means necessary—one last machine, one last hurrah, his swansong—and then it's time for a career change. He hadn't been lying when he'd told Roxanne and Metro Man that he can't take the risk of this happening again. Not with Minion. And not with her.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roxanne wakes early the next morning and finds herself back-to-back with Megamind, his skinny shins tangled in her knees, and she grins as she carefully disentangles herself so she can get out of bed and take a shower without waking him up. He's still dead to the world when she steps back into her bedroom, so, success!

She dresses—jeans and sneakers today, because if she's going to be standing around again, comfy shoes are a must—and then goes back over to where Megamind is curled up his side. In the few minutes she was gone, he'd managed to wrestle the blankets free and turn himself into something resembling a burrito with feet.

Grinning, she reaches out and jiggles a sky-blue leg. "Hey, love. Time to get up." The burrito mumbles a bit and curls its toes at her, and she snorts. "C'mon," she says, then tries tickling one of his webs of loose skin. Now that she knows they're there, it's easy to see the difference.

Megamind yips, then kicks at her and thrashes until his head pops free of the blankets and he can send her a bleary-eyed, reproachful stare. His pupils pin once and there's a film over one of his eyes; it takes her a moment to remember his second set of eyelids, and then he flicks the other nictitating membrane shut and flops back down onto the pillow again without a word, totally forgetting to close his eyes properly.

"I'm going to make coffee," Roxanne tells him.

"Good for you," he mumbles, and he's asleep again, both eyes wide open and glassy. She's lost him.

Oh, well. She decides to let him sleep for now and heads to the kitchen to start making coffee, instead. She's thinking eggs and toast for breakfast, but those will have to come after he's awake.

The coffee grinder twinkles at her invitingly from its corner next to the flour and Roxanne frowns at it for a moment. Then she shrugs to herself and pulls one of the bags of beans out of her freezer. She's got time. It's still only seven or so, after all, and it's not like they're on any kind of official schedule.

Bonus to making fresh coffee: the coffee grinder's crunching whine is enough to wake _anyone_ up, especially since the bedroom door is open. When Roxanne turns from scooping grounds into the coffeemaker, she finds that Megamind has done his silent-materialization thing and is standing in the kitchen with one trouser leg bunched around his knee, his shoulders hunched, barefoot and squinching his eyes against the summer sunlight streaming through the balcony doors.

"Morning, Blinky," Roxanne says brightly. There are pillow-creases on his face. "Sleep good?"

"G'murnin," Megamind mumbles, giving her the curly little smile that means he hasn't quite figured out what he's doing with his face yet. He rocks onto one foot and rucks his pant leg down with his toes. He's still pinning his pupils every couple of seconds while his eyes adjust. "'S coffee yet?"

"Not yet. Shower first, then coffee."

He bobs his head, yawns, and turns to stagger his sleepy self back into the bedroom, singing, "Coffeeee," over his shoulder as he goes.

"Coffeeee," Roxanne sings back, then snorts and bungs the coffee scoop into the sink. Somehow, she _will_ let slip to the press that Metro City's would-be Evil Overlord is an adorably semi-coherent goofball right after he wakes up, because it is a _crime_ that she's the only one seeing this.

Megamind isn't the only alien attracted by the sound of the coffee grinder. There's a tap on the glass doors as the shower kicks on, and then Wayne lets himself in, looking around. "Hey!" he greets her. "I heard a godawful noise and thought it might be you."

"Good morning! You're early," Roxanne observes with a smile. "Something you want to talk about, or are you just here to mooch off us for breakfast?"

"Eh. Both, I guess?" He rubs at the back of his neck. "You… _do_ realize what you're getting into, with him, right?"

Roxanne chuckles. "I know he's a handful," she says, sounding cheerful. "I know this is going to be different. Complicated. Frustrating, sometimes. But he's a sweetheart, he really is. You don't have to worry about me."

"You're…actually not the one I'm worried about."

She turns around and looks at him, her smile fading. He's standing with both feet flat on the ground and a frown rumpling his eyebrows, and after a moment he gives a little sigh and a shrug. "Look," he says, "you got him gloves and he scarpered for three days, but now you're _kissing_ him and he's somehow fine with it?" He raises his eyebrows at her, and okay, maybe that's a fair point.

But, at the same time… "Wayne, he ran off because we were still shaky at that point," Roxanne tells him. "He didn't know if he could trust what I was giving him, he thought…he thought I _wanted_ something _from_ him, he…plus, he was all freaked out about the mental link. He thought as soon as I found out about that, it'd all be gone. You should've _heard_ him when he tried to tell me. It was _horrible_ , he was…" She cuts herself off, shaking her head—Wayne doesn't need to know about that. But she'll probably never be able to get that memory out of her head. Megamind begging her to let him stay. She'd never misread a situation so badly in her life. "I don't ever want to make him feel like that again."

"And Minion?"

She shrugs. "I'm sure I'll always come second to Minion, in some respects. They're tied to each other, after all."

Wayne squints at her. "You're okay with that?"

She blinks up at him, then laughs, amused and confused at his confusion. "Well, _yeah_. It's…kind of expected, I mean…he's an alien, Wayne. He's as alien as you are. Even if he was human, I wouldn't have signed on if I expected his relationship with Minion to change." She bites her lip, trying to think of something that will reassure him.

Finally, she says, slowly, "Look, I can understand why you're concerned. I know he processes information on a totally different level than I do. He draws conclusions that I wouldn't, and sometimes I don't understand where his head is at." Wayne opens his mouth, and Roxanne hurries forward with, "And I _know_ he has problems relating to people, Wayne. I know he's…sensitive, and he doesn't trust easily. And I'm sure he's scared of losing people he does trust—that would be true even if he was human." Wayne closes his mouth again but he hasn't stopped frowning, and Roxanne frowns back a little. "Precisely _none_ of that changes the fact that he's a caring, wonderful person and I love him. Why are you so worried about this?"

He sends her a half-smile. "I told you, Roxie, I just feel kind of responsible for him. That's all. It's good to hear you've got your eyes open."

She studies him for a second longer, then shakes herself and grins a little. "Sure. No problem, I guess." She punches his arm—which is to say, she bounces her knuckles off his bicep, then winces and shakes out her fingers—and then turns away to take the bread out of the cupboard and get started making toast. As far as she's concerned, this discussion is over. "As long as you're here, you _are_ having breakfast, right?" She glances back over her shoulder with an odd little gleam in her eye and adds, "Hey, maybe at some point you'll figure out which one of us you're supposed to be protective of."

"Okay, okay, I get it! Sheesh." He makes a face. "And yeah, I'm having breakfast. Eating breakfast is my specialty."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Okay," he says later, hands on his hips, surveying the machine. "Time travel is my specialty, and I'm saying that's as good as it's gonna get. Let's do this." He nods to himself without waiting for a response from the other two and bends to pick up the harness and start shrugging into it. There's a big red button tied into the criss-crossing ropes on his chest—that's what will trigger the winch mechanism, reeling him backwards across time, through the bridges, when he's ready to come home.

Megamind—who is very much awake now and has been trying not to panic since about halfway through his shower, when his brain had finally started moving again—reaches out and grabs the harness with both hands, making Metro Man pause and blink down at him. "Wait," he says, his eyes flicking from the button to the winch to Metro Man's face and back to the button again. This has been in his head for a while and he's not going to be able to keep it in much longer. "Shouldn't _I_ go? I should go. I…I don't know what Minion is going to do when he sees you, and…"

"You _can't_ go." Metro Man shakes his head and continues tightening the straps. They'd decided against using buckles; with his strength, he'd be liable to break them and render the harness useless. Instead, a complicated system of knots holds everything in place. He's wearing a modified version of his flight suit with no cape, so there won't be any drag, and he's barefoot and barehanded so he won't have to worry about his boots or gloves filling up once he's submerged. "I'm the one who _breathes_ this stuff, right? And I'm the one who can hyper-accelerate. It has to be me. Besides," he adds, "if something goes wrong, I need you here to figure out how to bring me back. Okay?"

Megamind stares at him for a moment, then nods, biting his lip. He hurries over to one of the shelves, where he'd put something that looks like a smallish CB radio with a screen. "S-so…I've got the tracking device, it should be safe to at least forty feet. I doubt Minion will be much deeper than that." He hands it to Wayne, shows him how to read the screen. It's pretty basic. "I couldn't do much more than a proximity alert on such short notice, I'm sorry. We…we could wait a couple of days, while I get something more sophisticated…o-or a breathing apparatus that works with your respiration systems?" His brow furrows, but his eyes are wide and slightly panicked. "We—should wait. We should. You, you're so _heavy_ , and…and your f-flight, I don't know if…"

Wayne shakes his head. "Nah, let's get 'er done now." He chuckles. "We wait much longer and I'm gonna lose my nerve."

Megamind stares up at him, his huge forehead wrinkled in unfamiliar concern. "But you can't _swim_." It's not a question.

"I can fly underwater," Wayne assures him. Then, when Megamind looks extremely doubtful, he says, "I've done it before. I'll be fine, really. Little buddy, I don't _need_ to swim. It's not like this is the Olympics, or anything. I can't hyper-accelerate when I'm submerged, but I can still move quick if I need to. It'll be fine." He grins down at the smaller alien, then bumps him with his elbow, making him stumble. "Hey, what are you, worried? About me?"

Megamind blinks once, then pulls his face into a sneer. "Don't flatter yourself."

Wayne shrugs, rolling his eyes at Roxanne. "Oh, my mistake."

"Yes, your mistake." Megamind flaps his hands at him, swallowing hard as his sneer falls back into a worried frown. He has misgivings about this. Deep misgivings. Metro Man shouldn't be doing this; Megamind should insist that they wait, that they fine-tune the equipment…but there's Minion to consider, and Megamind can't delay any more than he already has without turning into a nervous wreck.

"N-Now turn around, I need to get the winch hooked in. Roxanne, on the shelf by the door, there's a spiky tube, it generates a small containment field…"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

It's late fall when Wayne arrives, tumbling into the same room he'd just left. It's also night, but his little buddy keeps _weird_ hours—or he used to, anyway—so he hyper-accelerates even before he stands up.

He twists his head, trying to look over his shoulder. He can feel the rope tied to his back tugging gently as it plays out behind him, its knot bulging with the stress of keeping up with so many bridges, but he can't see more than maybe two inches of cord. The knot is _glowing_ , but the rope itself isn't actually visible, for the most part.

And of course, it wouldn't be, he realizes after a moment's puzzled thought. Gaussian dissonance, Megamind had said. _Right_. Well, that'll make things…interesting.

He glances down at the button on his chest. This just means that when he hits it, the bridges will open behind him wherever he is. Time is time is time; it doesn't matter where he is in _space_. Time doesn't care about stuff like that.

At least he won't have to sneak back into the Lair dripping wet. That's a plus, he supposes.

He exits the Lair and then decellerates, since the proximity alert device won't work in a time-stop. And, as he'd told Megamind, he can't stay at super-speed in water. Moving like he does twists something subatomic. The water doesn't just boil; it vaporizes instantly, and the heat…

Wayne doesn't remember the evening his parents had found out about this. He'd only been three years old at the time, taking a bath, and the searing temperature hadn't done him any damage. His mother was another matter. He hadn't gotten the full story behind her scars until he'd been nearly seventeen because she hadn't wanted to scare him or have him grow up thinking he was dangerous, but she'd been lucky to retain the use of her hands.

Now he floats above Lake Michigan, frowning down at the tracker's screen. _Swimming_. He really _isn't_ good at swimming, really isn't built for water at all. As he'd told Megamind, he can sort of fly underwater, but actual swimming is out of the question simply because of how massive he is.

Most people use 'massive' to refer to his size, which is accurate, but he's also massive in the sense that he's about as buoyant in water as a ton of brick. It's useful if he wants to dive quickly, but less useful for things like breathing in water deeper than he is tall.

And what he hadn't admitted to Megamind is that flying underwater does bad things to his equilibrium. But that doesn't matter; he likely won't be down long enough for it to cause too much harm.

He stays in the air as he follows the tracker away from shore until its high-pitched blips blend into a whine, and then he looks down at the gray waves below him. Okay. This will be fine. He can do this, easy, no problemo. Just sink down, grab Minion, hit the button and go home. Easy peasy.

He takes a deep breath, flexes the fingers of the hand that's not holding the tracker. _Man, that looks cold_ , he thinks, and then he points his toes, pinches his nose, cuts his flight, and drops like several hundred pounds of living stone.

This may have been a mistake. The water is freezing in a way air never is, and if he hadn't steeled himself against it, it would have driven all the breath out of him. He'll need all the breath he can get, since he doesn't want to kick his flight in until he absolutely has to—the longer he stays in flight underwater, the harder it will be to ascend.

He sinks straight down, one eye on the screen of the tracker Megamind had given him, calculating depth and trying to remind himself that this was _not_ a mistake, this will all be worth it in the end, this is necessary, he's doing this for Megamind and he'll be _fine_ ; the water pressure pushing in on him won't do any lasting damage but he can always hit the button and go home if he _really_ needs to. So his eyes feel like they're about to be squeezed into the back of their sockets, but so what? He'll be _fine_.

The screen on the tracker cracks at fifty-three feet, but by then, Metro Man can see the bottom. There's a light down there, somewhere. _Minion_ is down there, somewhere, and his lights are reflecting and glimmering in ripples away across the lake floor, glinting off glass shining up from under a layer of silt. Wayne doesn't have time to look around much, but he can see _someone_ built a green-glass mandala on the bottom of the lake, and it's a cry for help if he's ever seen one. It's _huge_.

At the center of the circle is a tangle of bones. He's not sure what it is and he doesn't care—Minion is crouched to one side of it, all his spines and spots flaring, all his teeth bared, and Minion is the only thing Wayne is here for.

He pulls out the other device Megamind had given him, the containment field, and he points it at Minion, but—nothing happens when he flicks its switch. Okay, then, he'll do this the old-fashioned way.

Minion hisses when Wayne reaches for him, moves his fins in a way that makes an odd squawking sound, scoots back and snaps at Wayne's outstretched hand. Wayne flits forward out of habit— _shit_ , he thinks, as Minion darts away. Now he's in flight.

His lungs are already hurting for air, his heart is thundering in his ears, and now there's something filling up inside him and it _hurts_ , but if he struggles his way to the surface to take a breath, Minion will only flee deeper. And without Megamind's tracking device, Wayne has no chance of finding him again. He's already too deep. _It's now or never_.

Desperate, he reaches out a third time and snaps his fingers as close to Minion as he can—it creates a small shockwave, just enough to stun. He _does_ know what Minion is made of; they've fought enough times that he knows what the little fish can take. Minion's eyes flinch closed and his lights go out, and Wayne grabs him as gently as he can, considering his blossoming panic. And he _finally_ slaps the button strapped to his chest that will activate the winch and bring him and Minion home.

He brings Minion in against his chest and squeezes his eyes shut as the rope at his back jerks tight. He would have liked to have surfaced first, but his flight chambers are now completely flooded. Surfacing is no longer an option.


	12. Chapter 12

THIS CHAPTER ALMOST KILLED ME I SWEAR TO DOG. Too many feels. Too many damn feels, all at the same time, guh.

The last chapter's song was also Sleeping At Last, but in my defense, it's a good group! I have been having a terrible time not just working my way through their solar system albums. Every song, good lord. Every song fits.

I should probably wait to post this until it's not two in the morning, but…come on, guys, this is what two in the morning is _for_.

(this chapter has been slightly edited from its original version because the italics were killing me)

 **Chapter 12**

 **Saturn – Sleeping at Last**

Back in Evil Lair, a minute drags out and becomes two minutes. Two becomes ten minutes becomes half an hour, and Megamind breaks further apart every second of it, never mind Roxanne whispering to him, _It'll work, just be patient, finding Minion might take some time_. He thinks of the extra magnesium he'd shredded and insists to himself that everything will be all right, they won't run down the clock, but it's not really the time he's worrying about. He's not even really worried about Minion. Minion can handle himself, Megamind knows that better than anyone.

All he can think is—Metro Man _can't swim_. He was never meant to go underwater; he doesn't even really feel gravity. The only thing keeping him on Earth at all is atmospheric pressure; he belongs in the sky. Megamind knows this.

And flying underwater…

Metro Man doesn't so much fly in the conventional sense as swim through Earth's gravitational field. Gravity exists underwater, but gravity is a subspatial medium and Metro Man's flight systems require a compatible substantial medium—like air—in order to for him to breathe. Water is not a comparable substitute for air.

This was a mistake. This was a mistake. This was a mistake.

The Catastrophic Converter roars away behind them, its narrow beam of red light bouncing off the plate in the ceiling and into the receiver dish Megamind wired into the gun.

("Is that my lasers?" Metro Man had asked when Megamind turned it on.

"Don't be ridiculous," Megamind had replied, fidgeting, "it's only one laser. You've got two, ha ha."

"You said 'atomic bomb levels of destruction.'"

"Yes. Yes, I did. And can I mention how very grateful I am that you've never used them to their full potential? A-and shall we get this party on the road?")

This was a mistake.

One hour, seven minutes, and thirty-two seconds after Metro Man vanished into nothing, the time-anchor lets out a shriek and the winch clicks over, spinning the reel. Roxanne gets to her feet. Megamind, sitting on the floor beside her, his face pale and his eyes huge, can't seem to find his knees.

And then water explodes from a perfectly circular space in the middle of the room, blasting back into space with an icy _BOOM_ that has both Roxanne and Megamind twisting reflexively to cover their faces. Lake Michigan strikes the gun full force and plows it backwards, ripping the cords out of the receiver dish and scattering both gun and receiver against the far wall of the room, just as Metro Man crashes backwards out of thin air and washes to his side on the floor under the fall of water to be hauled back against the winch. Megamind is already surging to stop the mechanism; he's not sure when he got his feet under him but the lever is in his fingers and he's lunging against it.

It all takes less than a second, which seems absurdly inappropriate after such tension. The bridges collapse with the shattering gun and the water vanishes with them, and then it's just the Catastrophic Converter's dull roar and the hiss as its beam of red light strikes the floor instead of the receiver dish, scorching lake water into clouds of steam. Luckily, Roxanne is already hunkered by the Converter, twisting at the ocular focus; the red beam stutters to nothing after only a couple seconds, and then there's silence that leaves Megamind's ears ringing. He slowly forces his hands to unclench from around the lever and turn around. Metro Man—

Wayne lies where he'd fallen. Sopping wet and motionless against the winch. Crumpled on his side with his dark hair trailing limp in the inch or so of water on the room's concrete floor.

The noise that comes out of Megamind's mouth is inhuman, a terrified warbling shriek; he explodes back into motion, flinging himself forward and slicing through the harness, shouting at the brainbots to get the winch back against the wall. Then he's on his knees again, hauling in vain at Wayne's shoulder, trying to roll him onto his back as the bots drag the heavy equipment away—and Minion, his eyes shut and his lights dim, tumbles out of Wayne's grasp and onto the floor.

Megamind snarls and scrambles over Wayne's side, picks up Minion, curls halfway around him and cradles him against his chest even as he braces his feet on the floor and shoves his bony shoulder into Wayne's solar plexus. Minion is _here_ , Minion is _home_ , he's unconscious but he's _alive alive alive_ , but Megamind is split between unbearable relief and gut-wrenching fear because _Wayne isn't moving_. Wayne isn't _moving_.

He grits his teeth. _No_ , he thinks, biting back a sob. _No no no. I didn't sign up for this. This is NOT what I wanted!_

Roxanne lurches forward as he curls by his arch-enemy, green eyes wide with fear and fury, teeth bared and muscles bunching under his wet clothes as he slams himself repeatedly against Wayne's ribcage with all his strength. She has to stumble around the two of them in order to push two fingers against Wayne's thick neck—and yes, there's a pulse there, but it's clear that he isn't breathing.

Megamind chokes off a panicked, shuddering gasp, and bulls his shoulder into Wayne's chest yet again. Roxanne swallows.

"Megamind," she whispers, her voice shaking. She forces herself forward, back around behind him, and she grabs him by the shoulders and tries to pull him back. "Meg…Megamind. Stop. You're going to hurt yourself. His heart's beating, let me just—"

" _No!_ " he lets out another animal snarl and tears out of her grasp, stumbling back to crouch in Metro Man's shadow. "This isn't _right!_ It's not supposed to be a _trade!_ " He whips around on his knees and holds Minion up to her, wide-eyed and close to hysterics. "Take him! Take him! I need my hands."

"I was a lifeguard, just let me _—_ "

"You don't have the diaphrag-m strength!" He thrusts Minion at her, huge brain already counting down the seconds, already well on his way to blind panic. " _Take him!_ " he pleads, and she does, and he spins around again as soon as Minion is safe. "Wayland St. Lawrence Scott!" he screams. "If you die, I will kill you! Don't you dare!" and he grabs Wayne's nose in one hand and his huge chin in the other and starts rescue breaths. He can't get Wayne onto his back—the man weighs an actual ton; even Megamind isn't that strong—so the position is awkward as hell, but he will _make. it. work_. Years of properly-supported maniacal laughter and dashing everywhere because walking's for losers and swimming without bursting the seal on his gills have given him an absolutely tremendous lung capacity.

Right now, all he can do is pray that it's enough—and—and _hope_ —and _breathe_ —

—and it is, _it_ _is;_ for once in Megamind's useless-pointless-fuckup-excuse of a life, _he's enough_ (there are not enough gods to thank for this; he sends a dizzy expression of purest gratitude to Nicola Tesla and gravity, instead). It only takes four tries before Metro Man suddenly shudders back to life, retching and then vomiting water onto Megamind's legs, but _fuck_ , he could care less about that.

Wayne heaves in half a breath and then gives over to wracking coughs, bracing one hand on the floor and curling around it. He's dimly aware that Megamind is kneeling by his head, heedless of the mess, thin hands twisting into his hair and the collar of his flight suit, calling to him in a terrible voice.

"'M okay," he rasps, between coughs, "'m okay."

Megamind's hands and voice are shaking. "I'm calling an ambulance," he says, "you n-need a hospital. Brainbots—brainbots, get his back free, get the suit open—"

"No hospiddles," Wayne says, struggling to lift himself onto an elbow as two brainbots zip close and slice easily through the white Lycra on his back, cutting all the way down his spine and then retreating. Megamind finally lets go of his wet hair and sits back—his eyes are absolutely enormous—and Wayne eyes him warily, still gulping down air. "No. 'M fine. Minion?"

"You nearly drowned," Megamind shoots back, dragging his features into something resembling a frantic scowl despite the way he's trembling like dune grass in a windstorm. "There's still water in your lungs, you're at risk of…of infection, pneumonia, heart failure—dry drowning—a-and your _flight_ systems, I don't even _know—_ "

"I said I'm fine," Wayne snaps, and shoves himself to sitting. The spongy inhalant siphons above his collarbones bubble water with every breath, and the hollow exhalant siphons on his back are trickling. Megamind retreats somewhat as Wayne's head droops and he focuses on keeping his elbows from giving out.

"Wayne," Roxanne says in a small voice, breaking through his irritation slightly, "you weren't breathing."

He doesn't look up. "Okay, so I'm not fine now," he admits hoarsely, "but I'll _be_ fine. I've had worse than this. _Now_ ," and he reaches out to grab the front of Megamind's shirt with a ham-sized hand, " _is Minion here too?_ "

Megamind stares at him, then stammers, "Y-yes…yes, but he's unconscious," and Wayne lets out a breath that leads to more coughing and releases him, falls back down onto his elbows so he can choke on his relief for a few seconds. Megamind watches. He's almost vibrating with poorly-hidden anxiety as he stammers, "I…have to get him into our tank, but I… _you_ …" He pulls his lip between his teeth and bites down, hard, and glances up and back at Roxanne, who is also at a loss.

"Thank God," Wayne whispers as soon as he has breath for words, and then he pulls a hard inhale and clenches a fist to start to push himself up to his feet. "O-okay. I'm coming too."

"No! You! Sit down!" Megamind snarls, leaping to his feet and putting both hands on Metro Man's shoulders, shoving as though he might actually accomplish something. In a manner of speaking, he does; Wayne stops moving out of surprise and stares at him.

Megamind's eyes are totally wild; they're blazing, greener than he's ever seen them in his life before, _Of course, yeah, they always look that way when he's stressed; the skin around his eyes gets darker when he's bugging out…_ But this is entirely new, a whole other level of green. His pupils are pinprick-tiny.

After a moment, when Wayne just sits and stares, he gulps a little and says, in a more moderate tone, "You _s-sit down_ , you…I'll be _right back_. Stay. _Stay_." He casts one last desperate glance at Minion, tells Roxanne, "B-be careful of his slime layer, it's fragile," and then flees, splashing away down the hall.

Shivering, Roxanne shifts her weight from foot to foot. She looks like she might be resisting the urge to hug Minion to her chest—Wayne feels belatedly bad for manhandling Minion so roughly. _Slime layer_ , he thinks, _I should've guessed_.

"What _happened?_ " Roxanne asks, sounding stunned, staring at him. "Wayne, it…we didn't think…c-can you tell me? No, don't talk, you shouldn't…"

"He was too deep," he says quietly, his voice raspy. "I probably should've come back, but I didn't know if we'd get another chance. The tracker crapped out at about fifty feet."

"Deep?" Roxanne asks, appalled. " _Fifty feet?_ "

"Yeah, and you know me and deep water don't get along," he says, and he can't hide how exhausted he sounds. His huge shoulders are starting to shake; ordinarily he's not terribly bothered by cold, but this seems to be going all the way to his bones. Lying down seems like an attractive option, but he _really_ doesn't want to hear Megamind's reaction to coming back and finding him like that. "Minion spooked. And I knew if I left, he'd only go deeper, and I'd never find him again without the tracker, and he'd still be in the lake either way and I'd still have to deal with that. Containment thingy didn't work. So."

Roxanne stares from him to the fish in her arms and doesn't say anything. Wayne heaves in a breath that catches unpleasantly in his inhalant siphons; he sways, blood suddenly pounding in his ears, and swallows a few times until he no longer feels like he's swallowed a boulder made of ice.

"He wouldn't talk," he says. "Maybe he couldn't, I don't know. He kept…it sounded like honking, I guess, and flashing his lights. Some kind of threat display, I think. I had to stun him by clicking my fingers at halfway to super-speed.

"Then I grabbed him and opened the bridges, but it started taking lake water with us. Like a huge drain. I couldn't…I mean, yeah, I'm invulnerable and all, but I still gotta breathe." He inhales shakily, careful this time so it doesn't rebound again. "I blacked out about halfway home. All I could think was…I was gonna die. I was gonna die and I was gonna drop Minion in the middle of the bridge, a-and Blue was gonna _lose_ his _mind_ , all because I wasn't strong enough to just hold my _goddamned breath_."

"Wayne," Roxanne says, helpless. "No."

He ignores this. "And then there was all this light and the little guy yelling at me." He gives a bleak chuckle. "I d-don't think I've ever seen his eyes that big."

"I've never heard him _sound_ like that," she says.

He glances at her. "When you fell," he replies.

"Really?" she asks, and he nods. "I don't think I was awake for that." She pauses, bites her lip again. "He got you breathing again, you know," she tells him, "he…he wasn't about to let you die."

Wayne nods. "I know. I…" He breaks off, distracted, as Megamind comes splashing back flanked by tens of dusty brainbots carrying a huge armchair between them. "Is…isn't that the Comfy Chair?" he asks, frowning.

Megamind waves both hands at him, half-dancing with impatience. "Up! Up!" he cries, and Wayne struggles to his knees. Megamind flicks his hands, directing the brainbots to carry the chair around behind the hero as he declares, "Flight is out of the question; your vulsaeroflux vesicles will be completely shot for the next couple hours while they dry out. But I don't want you straining yourself walking, so the brainbots will carry you. No buts!" he adds, holding up a hand when Wayne opens his mouth. Then he points imperiously at the chair. "Sit!" he commands, and Wayne hauls himself into the chair.

Looking pleased, but still as though he might, at any moment, start screaming incoherently, Megamind turns to Roxanne. "Minion hasn't regained consciousness yet?"

Roxanne shakes her head. "Wayne said he had to stun him. Is he okay for this long out of the water?"

"Oh, he'll be fine. Those two tendrils, there, these are his ventral ganglia but the rest are all gas exchange tissue. In water and air. I'll…um, I'll h-have him back, now, please." He's already removed his gloves, and his long hands are gentle in spite of how deeply freaked-out he looks. "So, he's…like me, you know? He c-can go either way. Thank you for holding him for me."

"Sure," Roxanne stammers. She'd forgotten, almost, how quickly Megamind can talk sometimes. She's not sure right now if Minion is affecting him or if he's just frantic and not thinking about what he's saying, but he certainly sounds more like Old Megamind than he has in a while. "Lead the way, I guess—oh!" Megamind is already out the door, but another few brainbots have just flitted in carrying blankets. One of them drapes a scratchy wool thing around Roxanne's shoulders. It itches, but it's _warm_ , and Roxanne is glad of it.

"This is degrading," Wayne mutters as his chair lifts off the ground and bumps gently along after Megamind. Roxanne walks beside him, confident that the brainbots know where they're going and not wanting to intrude on whatever reunion occurs. "I don't _sit_." His fingers dig into the arms of the chair hard enough to leave dents. He's never been good at being a passenger.

"Oh, hush," Roxanne tells him. "You can stand to sit for a while."

"There's an oxymoron."

" _You're_ an oxymoron."

"Some kind of moron, anyway," Wayne agrees, leaning gingerly back in the chair and clearing his throat a little. "Yeah, I'm…some kind of fool, that's…that's for sure."

Roxanne looks at him, worried, but says nothing.

They're following Megamind through the Lair again, but now he's moving with purpose and there's a grimly determined light in his eye that Roxanne hasn't seen once in the months he's been living with her. Three flights of gray stairs later, they find themselves in a room that's easily the size of a concert hall with an absolutely _massive_ tank of water taking up the entirety of one wall. There are fish in it and weeds and a floor of stones of all shapes and sizes—she can see one or two that are as big as cars, but the ones on the near side of the tank are mostly fist-sized.

This must be the tank Metro Man had told her about. Its lights are on and Roxanne can hear something humming, but most of the room is taken up by huge drums connected by wide pipes and sluices, water rushing through all of them. It's some kind of filtration system, Roxanne assumes; the tank seems to be in good enough health, which is impressive after a year of looking after itself. Especially considering its size, good lord.

"Aha," Megamind mutters, and crosses quickly to a panel on one wall and starts typing one-handed, cradling Minion against his chest with his other hand, muttering under his breath. "Brainbots. Brainbots…blankets… _all_ the pillows…Minion's exosuit…oh, and a tarp…bring them here. Okay. Okay."

"I can get it," Wayne says, sounding tired, but the glare Megamind sends him actually makes him lean back.

" _You_ don't get _anything_. _I_ will get it _for_ you," Megamind says flatly. Then he stammers and deflates a bit. "O-only…"

"Okay," Wayne tells him, in no mood to argue. "Okay, look, you go get in the tank, I'll just…I'll call for a change of clothes and I'll go get it and then I'll come right back. Okay?"

"No." Megamind shakes his head. "I'll get in the tank, Metro Man, but the brainbots will bring you anything else you need. You need to rest. You need to stay sitting down." He's tense, not so much glaring as squinting. "Please."

Wayne blinks, but then he finally nods and manages a grin. "I…fine. Sure. I could…I guess I could go for some rest. Yeah. And, uh. It's just Wayne, actually."

Megamind opens his mouth, then closes it and nods, backing away, looking stricken.

"Go," Wayne says, and Megamind whirls and all but runs towards the ladder bolted to the face of the tank.

Roxanne suddenly races after him. "Wait," she pants. "Wait, I'm sorry, please. Just one minute, one more minute and then you can go, just…"

Megamind spins, one hand and one foot on the ladder already, and looks at her. Then he nods jerkily over her shoulder at the hero slowly getting out of the Comfy Chair behind her. "You. _Need_ to make sure he doesn't overdo it, I…if he keels over before I have a chance to say thank you, I'm going to take up necromancy." He scowls, huffs something that might be half a laugh. "You won't like that, I promise!"

Roxanne snorts in spite of herself and nods. "Okay, noted. Just…h-how does this work?" She reaches out, touches his arm, searching his face for some hint that everything is going to be okay. "Re-bonding with Minion, is there anything _I_ should…?"

Megamind shakes his head. "I don't, I don't know. I don't think so? I linked to you o-out of necessity, but Minion and I…it might take a while to restore fully, but we should snap back. I'm not sure. I don't know." He shakes his head again. "I don't _know_. But I, I have to try, I…"

Roxanne gives his arm a reassuring squeeze, but she's biting her lip as she steps back and tugs the blanket tighter around her. "Okay. Good luck."

He nods once, turns towards the ladder.

But then he turns back and jumps down, takes two quick steps to Roxanne, grabs her hand with his free one and pulls her in for an unexpected kiss. Startled, she freezes, then leans into it as much as she can without crushing Minion between them. It's a brief kiss, hard and halfway desperate. She could care less.

"Thank you," Megamind breathes when he breaks away, and rests his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. He squeezes her fingers. "Wait for me? Will you? I don't know how long this will take, but. Wait for me?"

Roxanne gives him a smile and a nod, shoves off his forehead before she backs away. "Yes, I'll wait, I love you, I love you so much," _I'm so scared, I don't know what's going to happen, I love you_.

Megamind nods and scales the ladder one-handed without slipping once, then drops Minion in the tank and dives in after him, still fully-clothed. Minion sinks quickly, his swim bladder still set at a depth the tank can't accommodate. That's okay. He has a fairly sophisticated internal pressurization system, he should be fine.

And he should revive fairly quickly from his sudden immersion in familiar waters, but Megamind isn't sure yet how the little fish will react to the shock of seeing him. Hell, he's not even sure how _he's_ responding to the shock.

Will Minion even recognize him?

The possibility that he might not is horrible but completely real. Megamind had lost a lot. More than he'd ever realized. Who knows what Minion lost?

(He's not sure what the sudden disruption of the link had felt like to Minion, but to him, it had felt like something physically breaking. Like the time Wayne had accidentally snapped his ulna when they were eleven, but in his head this time, and with silence instead of pain. Almost a whole day had passed before he'd been able to gather his fractured mind together enough to fully grasp what had happened. He'd spent most of it stumbling through the Lair, calling for Minion and wondering why he felt so _sick_ until he'd realized that Minion was gone. And then he'd remembered the gun…)

Gritting his teeth, he rolls to float on his back so he can strip down to his briefs as fast as he can, chucking his clothes over the side of the tank to fall twenty feet to the floor with several loud splats. And then he finally, _finally_ flips back over and slides his second eyelids sideways across his eyes, ducks under the water and looks around for Minion—who, thank everything, is here, is home, and that's enough. Whether he remembers or not, it's enough just to have him home.

Sure enough, Minion has already woken up. He's scooting along the rocky bottom of the tank, investigating his surroundings, blinking in dazed confusion.

Megamind gulps, kicks webbed feet and dives, and then winces as he closes his trachea and pulls water over his gills. The first inhale of water always stings when it tears through his airtight seals, but today he doesn't care because the thin trickles of blood make Minion pause and turn.

Minion blinks a couple times and squints up at him, and then his eyes go wide and he grinds his teeth, fins flaring in startled recognition. Megamind whirrs at him and clicks hard, whistling in his wide nasal passages, "It's me, it's me, I'm here," as he dives deeper, flicking his feet and rocketing down to Minion's place among the weeds and stone sculptures. "It's _me_ ," he clicks again, arms out, reaching to brush a hand through Minion's ventral ganglia. Minion darts backwards, eyes wide.

Then he grinds his teeth again, but this time he squeals his dorsal fin as well, spinning the stridulation into an incredulous, " _Sir?_ "

"Minion-Minion-Minion," Megamind whistles, sculling with his hands and adjusting his buoyancy as he desperately tries not to choke on the words. "Minion best-fish, Minion greatest-fish in the whole _fucking_ _world_ , Minion, I'm here."

Minion stares at him for a moment longer, and then his bioluminescence strobes once and he flings himself forward into his friend's chest, squeaking and bubbling sobs. "Sir! My _Sir!_ "

Outside the glass, Roxanne can only stand and watch. She can't understand what's being said but she can hear the muffled squeals and chirps as Megamind and Minion chatter back and forth, waving hands and fins in a dance that's probably not even conscious, spinning slowly around one another. Minion is beaming like Roxanne has never seen him, his little body lit up brighter than ever, and Megamind's whole face is alive with joy. They both sound like they're probably crying.

There's a lump in her throat that she can't seem to swallow.

"Here," Metro Man says behind her, and she turns. The thick black blanket he's wrapped in looks very warm and he's holding out a similar one to her, but this one is snowcloud-gray. Gratefully, Roxanne drops the now-wet scratchy woolen thing and bundles the soft dry one around her shoulders. Brainbots are stacking clean pillows and towels—in a surprising variety of colors—on a blue tarp next to the tank, and suddenly all she wants to do is sit down for a while. Looks like Metro Man has the same idea; he's already heading in that direction.

"You okay?" she asks, and he nods, then slowly lowers himself onto the tarp with a sigh and grabs a towel, starts scrubbing at his hair. Roxanne bites her lip and watches him, watches how heavy his movements look. "Hey, um…what was that Megamind said earlier, about…about vesicles?"

"My flight's kaput," he says shortly. "I won't be able to get in the air until I'm all dried out. Plus, I'm _crazy_ disoriented, it's…not fun." His hair's as dry as it's going to get, so he leans back against the tank and finally lets his eyes sloop closed. It doesn't help much with the vertigo, since vision isn't the problem, but it's one less input he has to deal with. That's something.

After a moment, Roxanne joins him on the tarp and pulls some blankets over. The way he's sitting, she'll be able to talk to him and watch Megamind and Minion chase each other around the tank at the same time…if she could just figure out what to say.

Then Wayne slowly lowers himself down onto his side, stuffing pillows under his head, and Roxanne's attention snaps back to him. "Hey, talk to me. He also said something about dry drowning, I'm still not sure if we shouldn't call someone."

He waves a tired hand at her. "Stop," he says. "I knew what I might be getting into. 'S not the first time I've had water all up where it shouldn't be." He shrugs. "The passing out was new, but still. I'd do it again."

Roxanne stares at him, stunned, horrified. " _Wayne_ ," she protests. "No. No, we wouldn't _let_ you. You almost _died_."

"Knew he wouldn't let me down," he mumbles.

It's different from what he'd said before— _he hates me, I don't know how he'll react_ —and there's an odd softness in his face that Roxanne hasn't seen before. For a moment, all she can do is stare at him, thinking of all the absurd lengths he'd gone to for Megamind's sake. Searching for him when he'd been missing, doing everything in his extensive power to bring Minion back for him, giving his time, his energy, putting the city on hold for two solid days, putting his own life in considerable danger…

She can hear Megamind more than Minion when he's being shrill, but even that's muffled; there's no way he can hear any of this through the triple-thick reinforced glass. "Wayne," she says again, quietly. "Hey. Why did you do all this?"

Blue-grey eyes slip briefly open at her and his jaw tightens, but all he says is, "You take care of him, Roxie." He closes his eyes again, swallows. "Just…take care of him."

She bites her lip, glances up at Megamind—who seems to be following Minion in an extremely tight steeple chase around several of the larger rocks—and then nods. She'll. Think about this later. "Okay," she says for now, "you got it." Then she leans forward and grabs one of the folded towels. "Hey, can I help at all? Maybe blot at your vents, see if we can get you dried out, some?"

He pauses, then groans and shoves himself back up to sitting, turns so she can reach his back and leans forward to rest his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. His suit is already hanging wide open in the back, which makes it a whole lot easier for Roxanne to see what she's doing.

It's not the first time she's been this close, so she already mostly knows what she's looking for. Like Megamind, not all of Wayne's musculature is analogous to human anatomy. The area of his back where a human would have their latissimus dorsi is split into several distinct muscle groups, with hollow, half-moon vents between each group—this is the part of his respiratory system that allows him to breathe at high altitudes and speeds. All eight of these exhalant siphons are trickling water down his long back into the remains of his already-soaked flight suit. Roxanne blots at his back with the towel a couple times, which makes him jump and flinch but otherwise doesn't seem to do much.

She hesitates. "Okay, um…can you push through these? I mean, can you…blow your nose, sort of, but with your…whatever these are?"

He swallows. "I'll try. Hang on." He flexes, tenses, breathes deep, rolls his shoulders, and water bubbles out of his vents. Roxanne gets most of it with the towel, but she's deeply worried about how soon it's soaked and she has to scramble for another one. Just how waterlogged is he?

"That was good," she says, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible. "You got rid of a lot of water, that time! Again?"

"Sure," he replies, but he sounds like his teeth are clenched. "No problem."

This time, there's a rumbling from somewhere deep in his chest, and the water he glurps up is tinted red. Roxanne freezes, staring at the towel in her hands. "Um…"

"What'sit?"

"I think you're bleeding."

"'M gonna lie down," he mumbles. "'M gonna. Gonna lie down. Jus' for a sec."

She abandons the towel. "I think maybe we better not do that anymore," she whispers as he settles back onto his side, his chest heaving. She scoots closer to him, rubs a hand down his arm. "Wayne, c'mon, you can't go to sleep."

"I'm not sleeping," he says. "Hurts too much. I think…I think this is what pain feels like."

That sets Roxanne back a step until he slits an eye open at her and pulls his lips into a wan sort of smirk, and she realizes he's joking. "Oh. You're awful."

"Heh. Seriously, though, Roxie, ow."

"Hey, _are_ you going to be okay?" She squeezes his shoulder. "Drop the hero act for a sec. Real talk. Do you need a doctor?"

"I'll be fine," he assures her. "Promise. Just need to get a good night's sleep, that's all, I'll dry out and I'll be good as new in the morning."

She rises to a half-crouch so she can peer over him. There's blood at the lips of his siphons, one of which is bleeding badly enough to paint a red trail down to the tarp. "Wayne, please. How do we know you don't have the bends, or…something? You went _deep_ , and you came back up to pressure in no time at all. Literally. That can't be good for you."

He shrugs, then winces. "I wasn't breathing compressed air."

"You might not have to be," she says. "You're an alien. An alien designed for _flight_."

"I wasn't down long enough to pressurize at depth," he returns. "Roxie, I swear, I'll be okay."

She stares at him, lying on his side on Megamind's floor, bleeding from his back and still half-full of water, too exhausted and dizzy to stay upright. He's not okay. And she's never seen him laid low like this, and it's _scary_ , because usually he's unstoppable, usually he's a goddamned machine. "We should've sent Megamind," she tells him sadly.

"Probably should've," he finally agrees. "But we didn't. It's cool. I'm just glad it worked out okay in the end. Minion's home." He sighs. "All's well that ends well."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Megamind had been right: the old bond isn't quite as strong as it had been before, but he _can_ feel it tightening; he can feel Minion in his mind, ticking away. On some deep level, he'd recognized Minion's quiet and reached for him.

From what Minion says—if Megamind understands him correctly, that is; neither of them had time to learn much nuance to their languages, but Minion's is especially basic due to his species' lack of internal vocal structures—it's much the same for him. He's found his tongue again, he'd said, and Megamind had laughed at the phrasing, but he supposes it's an accurate enough statement. Minion can't seem to get the hang of speaking English yet; he's using his spines and swim bladder and teeth.

But that's okay, Minion says. He should figure it out again pretty soon.

He'd been in the lake, he says, and that's about all there is to Minion's side of the story, at least for now. Megamind doesn't give him too many specifics on his own new life, either—he's not sure how to explain a lot of it—but Minion doesn't really need to be told how very new a life it is.

"I'm worried," Megamind remarks as Roxanne and Metro Man arrange themselves on the floor next to the tank. "Seeing us this way, they've never…"

"Okay, Sir, okay," Minion says reassuringly. He and Megamind have more or less calmed down, at this point, and they've stopped chasing each other around the tank. "The suit, soon," and Megamind looks down at him.

"Minion," he says. " _Minion_. I don't want you in the suit. I don't want to _move_."

Minion ascends high enough to bump his shoulder, and lets Megamind turn and gently put his arms around him.

Megamind adjusts his buoyancy and sinks fully to the stones on the bottom of the tank, where he curls onto his side with both arms and his long body wrapped around Minion, careful not to damage his friend's soft slime coat, which is bruised enough already. "Okay?" he clicks. He can only breathe through one side, but he's not moving too much; his oxygen requirements are met. "This? You and me, for right now? For now. Forget the world."

Minion chuckles at him and wiggles out of his arms, but only so that he can fit himself under Megamind's chin, which is more comfortable. He's not a particularly huggy fish—he's a _fish_ , after all—but at the moment, he's desperately glad to have the contact in spite of how it makes him ache all over. "Okay, Sir."

"I love you," Megamind whistles at him. "Didn't tell you before, much. Should have, I should have, I'm sorry."

Minion pulls away enough that he can turn and stare up at him. Okay, the cuddles are nice, if a little strange, but it's deeply unlike Megamind to be that emotionally articulate.

"I thought I could never tell you again. Minion, my minion, I think I thought you'd always be here." He doesn't know _take for granted_ , but that works. He pauses, and Minion feels him swallow hard. "I'm _so_ sorry."

Stunned, Minion clicks at him to hang on, then focuses on trying to remember how to coordinate the valves and bones in his abdomen that will allow him aquatic English. His own language doesn't have words for this that he knows—it had never needed them; it was passed down the way Megamind's was, genetically, and maybe nuance would have come later but by that time he'd grown out of it and into more human-sounding speech. They both had.

He sputters to himself for a few seconds, focuses on the rhythms singing up and down all along his spine until he manages a hum. _Ah. There_. "Bird," he finally says, because 'b' and 'r' had given him years of trouble.

Megamind squeals happily at him, whole body clenching with it, then scoots back and flips onto his stomach so he can grin at Minion. "Knew you could! Fast learner, you. Best-fish, smartest-fish! Best-smartest." It's easier to string words together in his language than it is to maintain any kind of grammatical structure. Faster, too.

"Yes. And I love _yy_ you, too, Sssir." He reaches out and brushes a fin down Megamind's nose, making him twitch and swat at him. "I thought I was going to be alone forever. I know my people were mostly sssolitary, but I missed you." He'd built a nest alone. It had _sucked_ , and—

And oh, _shit_ , he'd built a nest _alone_. That's. Not okay.

He shoves it to the back of his mind before his distress can show on his face. "Missed you _a lot_ ," he says.

Megamind pushes water between his teeth in a pained hiss. "Minion. Never again."

"Can't promise," Minion mumbles. This is so surreal, he and Megamind don't _talk_ about this. He's usually willing enough, but Megamind has to be awake for at _least_ three or four days before he ever starts talking like this.

"Can too," Megamind replies, stubborn.

"We always knew you'd die young, S…ir," Minion reminds him, scaling back the hissing 's' with an effort. He tries again, with more success this time, "Supervillains don't die of old age. We've always known that."

"Yes, but…" Megamind trails off with a frown, trying to think of how to say _I didn't realize what effect that would have on you_. "Yes, but you. This? Never this, no. I can't, I don't want, never." He wrinkles his nose, frustrated. _That would be one good thing about getting out of the tank_ , he thinks ruefully. _We could actually have a conversation. I don't even know how to say 'villainy.'_ Megamind brushes his fingers up and down Minion's dorsal ridge in contemplation, finally settling on, "I don't _want_ bad things for us. It's not fair to you, it's not fair to us _._ We're more than this."

There's a shocked pause from Minion, and then he wriggles out so he can see his friend's face and look Megamind in the eye. "Sir," he protests, "when did you finally start believing _that?_ I gave up trying to convince you years ago, and now here you are, convincing _me!_ "

Megamind shrugs, grinning a little, and pushes himself up onto his fingertips. "Not sure."

Minion squints at him. "Why so recently?" he asks, then blinks when Megamind tips his head back and squeak-chatters a watery laugh. "Sir, really! What changed?"

" _She_." Megamind nods through the glass at Roxanne. "I… We, she, like you and me."

"I don't follow."

Megamind wrinkles his nose and shrugs. He has no words to explain the link.

Minion is quiet for a moment before asking, "Sir, should we surface?"

That makes his brow furrow, and he runs gentle hands over Minion's sides. "Maybe?" Honestly, he's not sure if he can even explain it to Minion in English. "It's okay, it's not important. Stay."

"But I want to know, Sir. This _is_ important. You don't want to be a villain anymore." Minion frowns, twitches away when Megamind reaches towards him again. The contact is nice, but that doesn't mean it isn't also overwhelming. "That seems…Sir, that seems like something we should talk about."

"But…okay. Okay." Megamind rolls his eyes and rises to his knees. What Minion wants, Minion gets, at least for now. "She and I, like you and me, like this. In here." He touches the back of his head.

Minion's eyes go wide and panicked. "You _linked with her?_ "

"I didn't _want_ to," Megamind protests, because Minion looks about as horrified as Megamind himself had felt about the whole thing. "I couldn't stop it! I didn't even _know_ , at first! But she's okay, Minion, she's okay."

Minion's still staring at him. "Does she _know?_ "

Megamind nods hard, urgent. "Yes! She's okay, I said, I _said_ she's okay! She…" He pauses, wanting to say _she loves me_ , but he's not sure how Minion will take that. He decides to leave it for now. "She knew. Before I told her. She was okay."

It's all Minion can do to keep his eyes in his head. If he'd had external ears, he's _sure_ they would have fallen off. " _Why?_ "

That gets another shrug. " _I_ don't know. Something about me being a good…um…living-partner-person."

Minion snorts.

"Hey," Megamind whistle-clicks, mock-wounded, "I am a _very_ good living-partner-person. I do the clothes-cleaning and I do the rooms-cleaning and I cook now…ohhh, laugh, yes, laugh a _lot_ , you think I'm lying. Ha ha, what a funny liar I am." He'd fold his arms over his chest if doing so wouldn't pin his gills closed. He puts his hands on his hips instead and tries to glare, but his grin keeps sneaking back and ruining the effect. " _Worst_ fish. Stop laughing."

"I n-need my exosuit," Minion gasps, "I need it so I'll have sides I can clutch. Oh Sir. _Sir_. I am not sure where this self-aware sense of humor is coming from, but I _like_ it." He manages to compose himself with an effort. "Well…if you're sure, I suppose I'll take your word for it."

Megamind sticks his tongue out at him, but movement out the corner of his eye catches his attention before he can think of another response. He turns back towards the glass—a squadron of brainbots are flying in with one of the exosuits. Two of the bots are hooked in and running diagnostics; they're flickering green, it's a good sign. They'll be done soon, and then Minion can get out of the tank and get comfortable in his suit, and that's probably for the best.

Except, Megamind doesn't want to get out. He wants Minion next to him, physically, no glass between them—but Minion has never been a huge fan of being touched and Megamind feels a little bit bad about how cuddly he's behaving right now. Minion is a fish; he's happy enough to cuddle when he's in his habitat ball, and he likes the small contact they have when he's being transferred between habitats, but too much skin-to-skin tends to make him jumpy. Nestling under Megamind's chin the way he had, that was entirely new, and probably related to their forced separation.

And Megamind is well aware that Minion does want to get back into his suit.

He glances over at the other two bipeds, but they're still on the tarp and they look quite comfortable on the pillows, so he bites his lip and tries to figure out what he should do next. Minion frowns at him, recognizing the thinking face, then follows his gaze in time to see Roxanne's face light up when she realizes they're looking at her.

 _That's_ not something Minion would have expected. He's even more surprised when she gets quickly to her feet and comes over to the tank, puts both hands flat on the glass, and _smiles_ at him. At _him_. Not Megamind.

 _Hey_ , she mouths, searching his face, still wearing that brilliantly excited smile. _Hey, Minion, good to—!_ but he doesn't catch the last part. Oh, well. He smiles back at her anyway, fans his fins at her, does a little flip to show he's pleased to see her as well. Megamind hovers off to one side, beaming, and when Roxanne turns away from Minion…

Well, _that's_ a new face. Minion hasn't seen Megamind look that dazzlingly happy in years.

Roxanne's lips move again. Minion thinks she's asking how Megamind is feeling, and he almost jumps when Megamind squeak-chatters and spins around a couple times, laughing for all he's worth and even managing to blow a small bubble cloud before bringing himself down closer to eye level. Roxanne is laughing, too, leaning on the glass, resting her head against it, and Megamind—

Megamind actually bends his head and touches foreheads with her through the glass. _Miss Ritchi knows about touching foreheads?_ Minion thinks, and stares until he realizes that it's probably just a reassuring gesture because the glass is between them. Bipeds touch, it's a thing, and this is an acceptable substitute. _Ah. Okay_.

As the two of them draw away from each other, Roxanne raises her eyebrows at Megamind and lifts a hand to tap on the back of her head near the base of her skull, asking a question with her eyes and not her voice, since the latter will be swallowed by several thousand gallons of water and several inches of glass.

Megamind nods emphatically, grinning, and Roxanne sends him another smile, this one more relieved-looking than the others. "See, Minion?" Megamind says, sounding pleased. "I _said_ she was okay."

"So it would appear, Sir," Minion agrees, and tries to think. It's clear that things have changed since he wound up in the lake with the link broken. Metro Man is here, and Megamind isn't upset about that—far from it; he's actually concerned about their old enemy, Minion can tell from the way he keeps frowning in the hero's direction.

And Roxanne is here, too, and she'd _linked_ with Megamind, which means she _must_ have spent some amount of time with him…

Megamind has been enamored of Roxanne for years, though he's never done anything about it. Now, it seems, there might be a chance for something to grow. Minion squints at her. _Yes_ , he thinks, _I can use this_.

Minion is not a social creature, but Megamind is, and isolation has never done him any favors. If Minion can get Roxanne to tolerate Megamind's eccentricities for a little while longer, maybe she'll get used to him in a capacity other than just helping him. Maybe Minion can foster an actual _friendship_ between them. If he can get Megamind to reach out to Roxanne in a physical way—the way he sometimes, when he's sick or very tired or distressed, the way he is now, reaches out to Minion—maybe she'll reciprocate. It's certainly worth trying; Minion likes Roxanne, and if he can work towards a life that includes her, he'll take it. Besides, if Roxanne's mind is steady enough to keep _Megamind_ grounded, she's even more relatable to Minion than he'd realized.

He makes up his mind. Go with the flow, feel out the new dynamic, and if he sees an opportunity to keep Megamind and Roxanne in close proximity to each other, take it. It might take some prodding, but Minion is _good_ at prodding. He flits forward and grins at her, flicks his dorsal spine up and flares his lights a little for her benefit.

Her answering smile this time is quieter, and unexpectedly fond-looking, and she taps her forehead on the glass on his level. Minion is too thrown by that to respond, but Roxanne doesn't seem to mind; she just grins at him and gives him a nod like it's goodbye-for-now and then turns and goes back to the tarp, where she kneels by the horizontal hero.

Metro Man is lying on his side with his back to the tank, his head on a stack of pillows the height of his wide shoulder. The back of his suit has been cut open, and it looks like there might be blood on him.

Minion frowns. "Sir," he says. "Why is Metro Man here?"

"He helped," Megamind says. "Me. Us."

That doesn't help his confusion any. "Why?"

"I don't know," Megamind admits. "But he helped a _lot_. He knew what happened to you first. He told her; they tried, but I had to help them. He came home after she told me about you, he…hugged me, he said he would help." He pauses, looking troubled. " _Anything_ , he said."

"He _hugged_ you, Sir?" Minion's not sure he'd understood that one correctly, but Megamind nods.

"I think I have more friends than I thought," he says. "And…he brought you back, he…went into the past, he found you. Do you remember?"

Minion does remember, but it's not particularly coherent—just fear/recognition, the feeling of negation, the urge to defend his nest. "Not really," he says, trying to ignore the pricklings of suspicion.

Another nod, and Megamind slips back towards the bottom of the tank, knees first. "I had to make him breathe again when he came back."

Minion spins. " _What?_ " he gasps, and all his half-formed worries scatter in shock. He'd been thinking that nobody does anything that extensive for _them_ without wanting something from them in return, but no, that changes the game entirely. To risk his life like that, that's not something you do because you want something. That would have been out of necessity, spur-of-the-moment, no time to think. "He… _what?_ "

"He wasn't breathing," Megamind repeats, scooting along the glass with a flick of his feet to bring himself closer to Roxanne and…and Wayne, who _is_ his friend, yes, okay, good lord. They're talking, but he can't hear anything they're saying. "I don't know what happened. He almost died. Minion, I don't _understand_."

After a moment of stunned silence, Minion says weakly, "Well, Sir…I guess we can't hate him anymore, can we?"

Megamind shakes his head. He hasn't hated Wayne for a while. Not really. Not _hated_. "He's going to teach me…" he pauses, and Minion waits for him to figure out how to convey whatever it is he's thinking. "Doing-good, I think."

 _Heroing?_ So Megamind isn't just stepping down as a villain, he's…stepping up as a hero? "That will be…interesting, Sir," Minion says. At least it will give him the chance to thank Metro Man for all he'd done. Still.

Megamind hums. "It certainly will," he says, and then he turns, flipping around in the water to face Minion. "Well, what do you think? Stay here, or you want to get out? It looks like the brainbots are done."

Minion hesitates. He knows Megamind would probably prefer to stay in the tank with him, but…he really would feel much more at home in his exosuit. Steadier on his feet, and safer. Part of him still feels like this is a dream, like he's still in the lake and dreaming with his eyes open again; it will be a while before he feels entirely comfortable in open water again. "I…I think I would like to get out, Sir," he admits. "I'm sorry."

Megamind shakes his head. "Don't be," he says, then grins as if remembering something. "Anything you need, Minion, I got you."

Minion blinks, looking briefly surprised, then gives him a toothy smile. "I love you, too, Sir," he says. And he's not sure why that makes Megamind pull his head back and gape like a fish, but it does, and then the startled expression passes, replaced by a thoughtful kind of uncertainty. Minion peers at him but doesn't push; Megamind's Thinking Face usually means he'll say something when he's ready. So, "Race you to the surface?" he offers, and Megamind blinks at him. Then his wide white smile flashes out and he kicks off the bottom without another word. "Cheater!" Minion cries, "Villain," laughing, and nips at Megamind's ankles all the way up.


	13. Chapter 13

Not gonna lie, this whole thing was mostly written while listening to Passenger, Sleeping At Last, and Kate Rusby.

 **Chapter 13**

 **Caravan – Passenger**

Roxanne had been expecting Megamind to somehow climb down from the tank carrying Minion to put him back into his suit, but instead, three brainbots detach Minion's dome and carry it up to the mouth of the tank. It's hard to see what's happening up there and hard to hear what either of them is saying, but Megamind's clear laugh rings out shortly before the brainbots come zooming back down with Minion in tow. Things must be more or less okay.

She probably won't have to stand up just yet, then. Good. She'd pulled Wayne's head into her lap when she'd settled back down with him; pins and needles are an even trade for being able to stop actively worrying over him. And he seems to be asleep now, so she's reluctant to move unless she's needed.

 _The end_ , she thinks. It's the end, isn't it? Minion is home, Megamind is all smiles… This is exactly what she'd wanted. She wouldn't trade it for anything.

But life goes on, and there is the small question of what happens next. The whole taking-one-day-at-a-time thing has become sort of a habit, and with the future so uncertain, Roxanne hasn't thought much about where to go from here. As someone who usually plans for every possible contingency, the feeling is…disquieting.

But who knows? Maybe it's good not to have too many expectations. A lot has changed since the last time Minion was in the Lair, and until a few days ago, none of Roxanne's daydreams about Minion coming home had included an actual, real prospect of kisses with Megamind. And the number of daydreams that included Wayne dying—or even almost dying—is probably less than zero.

( _The best-laid plans of mice and men_ , she thinks, and then wonders what the rest of the quote is. Does anyone, ever, finish the quote? Does it matter?)

So. Plans. She has none, and maybe that will turn out to be good, but right now it's not terribly reassuring.

She catches herself rubbing at her ear again and puts her hand back down, flexing her jaw as she watches Minion's dome lock down into his exosuit. _I'll just keep taking this as it comes_ , she decides. She forces a yawn, trying again and failing to pop her ears. _It's been working out just fine for us so far. Everyone is here. Everyone is okay. I don't have to be worried_.

Megamind races down the ladder after Minion, trying to see if he can reach the floor before the brainbots have his friend's dome properly locked into place—he knows he won't be able to, he isn't trying very hard, but he leaps off the ladder while he's still nearly eight feet in the air. He rolls into a half-run, bounces over to Minion, and flings both arms around the gorilla exosuit. Minion stumbles, then grins down at him and pats his back a few times. "Too slow, Sir," he says, and Megamind sticks his tongue out and laughs, dizzy with joy and apprehension, his heart in his throat. He feels shivery, which has nothing to do with the Lair's cool temperature or the drafts on his wet skin.

When he steps back, he's still smiling, but there's a line between his eyebrows as he turns to look back at the pair sitting on the tarp. Roxanne has her legs stretched in front of her and her back against the tank's glass, and—ah, Wayne has his head in her lap and his eyes are closed. Okay. That's. That's probably okay.

Megamind swallows hard and hugs his arms across his chest. Thinking is easier now than it has been in ages, but so much has changed that he doesn't know where to begin explaining everything to Minion. Or whether he should try at all! Should he? Now? There's so much. And it's so new. And different. It would—would it be too much? It would be too much. Wouldn't it?

He thinks it might be, but he's thinking a lot of things right now. Like! For example! Wayne's current physical and mental state also need seeing to.

Megamind lifts a hand to his mouth and bites down on his first knuckle, frowning. Wayne seems to be breathing well enough at this point—it will be easier to tell when he gets closer—he'll have to get closer; he has to talk to Roxanne, anyway—and of course, he does want to—no, focus, Megamind, focus! Wayne's strength will cut out if he doesn't get enough oxygen. Right. There's the problem. Problem with not breathing.

It wouldn't be a problem if his various superpowers were actually superpowers, instead of products of his biology. 'Subspatial manipulation of gravitational fields' doesn't have the same ring as 'super-strength,' but it's pretty much the only thing keeping him from being crushed under his own weight on this planet. And if he's having trouble breathing, and it stops working…

That. Would be a problem. Although—

He frowns harder. Yes, he could probably get enough mercury to replicate the chamber the doctors suspended Wayne in when he'd caught pneumonia back in middle school. Not without raising a number of eyebrows, but he could certainly—oh, or no, wait—hold on, hold on; simplify—there are oxygen tanks upstairs, and the antigravity cuffs are still lying around someplace. Those would be much easier to deal with. Just modify the intergravitational harmonizers on the cuffs to equalize Wayne's subspatial field throughout his displacement, keep him from being squeezed, and then it's only a matter of finding a non-rebreather mask that fits him and feeding him oxygen until his strength is able to reestablish itself. Okay.

Megamind relaxes slightly. Yes, he can do that. If he needs to! He probably doesn't need to! As long as Wayne's invulnerability doesn't short out for too long, he'll probably be all right.

He's not out of the woods yet, though, and. This is still a problem, in fact, because—

"He doesn't look so good, Sir," Minion says, and…yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Wayne doesn't look good.

And Minion is the one saying it. That's also new.

Megamind nods, trying to figure out how to phrase this. "I don't want," he tries, but no, no, that won't work. His next attempt starts with, "I wouldn't feel right if," but that's not really any better. Ugh. _Ugh_.

"Keep him under observation?" Minion inquires mildly, and Megamind looks up at him, startled. Minion gives him a little smile, then continues, "I agree completely. I'll tell a couple of the brainbots to sneak into Scott Manor—I'm sure they'll be able to find some clothes for him there that haven't been chopped all to pieces."

Megamind blinks twice and then feels his face relax into a grin that's only a little bit shaky around the edges. "Minion, you always know what to do," he says fervently. _I'm so glad you're alive_ , he doesn't say, because he doesn't need to. Definitely not because saying it will probably make him cry and crawl up Minion's exosuit and wrap himself around the glass and just stay up there for a while. Definitely not because it sounds too close to _I'm so glad I didn't kill you_.

(This is all entirely too much to deal with right now. Or. Ever.)

Minion smiles back and pats his shoulder with a huge metal hand, then stumps off to go confer with the brainbots. Which leaves Megamind to approach Roxanne and Wayne on the tarp. Which he can _totally do_.

But, man, the hero doesn't look much better up close. Heavy purple shadows are bruising at Wayne's temples and all around his eyes, and the skin near what Megamind can see of his spongy inhalant siphons is inflamed.

Megamind's frown deepens as he stops in front of Roxanne. Wayne has crow's feet. How long have those been there?

 _Five years for him_ , he thinks absently. _That's one year as far as anyone else is concerned, plus four years' time in subspace—just sleeping—racing from emergency to emergency—four_ years; _who knows how many before that?_

"Hey, love," Roxanne says quietly, gazing up at him. "What's the plan?"

He blinks at her, then heaves a sigh and turns around so he can sit down next to her, close. She moves automatically, half-lifting her arm, and Megamind thinks—three things all at the same time: _she can't possibly_ but also _yes_ and _fuck it_. He cuddles in against her side; he pulls his knees to his thin chest and turns his head against her shoulder. "I don't have a plan," he says aloud, and runs his hand down the side of his ribs so the flare of his gills won't catch on Roxanne's damp shirt. She hadn't gotten full-body soaked like he or Wayne had, but she's still wet pretty well through. "The brainbots are getting dry clothes for us," he tells her. "Other than that, I'm playing this by ear." He nods down at Wayne. "How is he?"

"He's pretty insistent that he'll be fine."

"Good. He probably just needs to sleep it off." He makes a grumbling noise under his breath, but can't help smiling when Roxanne's arm closes around him. "He's…basically indestructible. As long as his biological requirements are met."

Wayne stirs. "Thank you, and will you please take his word for it?" He turns his head so he can scowl at Roxanne, who appears nonplussed. "She won't stop worrying over me," he complains, rolling his eyes up and tipping his head even further back to look up at Megamind. His voice is thick; he sounds extremely congested. "I swear, she's convinced I'm gonna die. Megs, buddy, tell her! She listens to you."

Megamind wrinkles his nose a bit at 'buddy'—it doesn't rub him wrong; he's just not sure he'll ever get used to it—and gives a haughty sniff. "Somebody has to worry about you," he says archly, perfectly aware that it's almost the same thing Roxanne had told him only a few nights ago. He's also aware that he'd mostly stopped protesting afterwards. "Probably best if we both do. There's too much of you for just one person to keep track of."

Wayne snorts, incredulous. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're, like, six of me. You're built like a house."

"A brick house," Roxanne adds, grinning. "Drop you in a lake, _ploonk_ , you go straight to the bottom."

"You guys are the worst friends ever," Wayne scoffs. "I dunno why I put up with you."

"Psh," Megamind says, pleased. "You love me."

Wayne glances at him, then rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

Megamind grins and lifts his head so he can lean it against Roxanne's, then nods a little. This is actually sort of pleasant: sitting with her, snarking at Wayne, finally able to rest for a few minutes. He could get used to this. Potentially without the almost-totally-naked part, but he's trying not to think about that too much.

There are a number of things he's trying not to think about, right now. It isn't easy; he's woefully out of practice.

"No plan," Roxanne says softly. "Okay. Yeah, we'll…we'll manage." Her arm around Megamind's shoulders and back tightens, the fingers on his bicep squeeze, she tips her head onto his shoulder and leans on him for a moment.

"Maybe Minion will have a plan," he murmurs. "Minion's really good at those."

"Do we tell him about us?" Roxanne asks, after a moment. "Did you already?"

Megamind shakes his head but doesn't move away from her. "My aquatic vocabulary isn't…it isn't as extensive as I'd like. I didn't mention it. And. I didn't really know how." He hesitates, then blurts, "What do you think we should do?" Asking for third-party advice isn't something he does often, but… "My thinker is out of practice. You're the smartest person I know. Think for me."

Her heart skips a beat at _the smartest person_ , from Megamind. Megamind calling her smartest is probably the best thing she's ever heard. She smiles a little, watches Minion waving his hands at the brainbots clustering around him. "I almost feel like it would be too much, too soon."

Megamind rumples his forehead and makes a small, dissatisfied sound, but it ends on a resigned sigh. "I tend to agree."

"You don't sound too happy about it."

He wriggles his shoulders unhappily, then winces and has to lean away from her a little when one of his gills catches despite his best efforts to keep it shut. "I wanna kiss you," he says as he smooths it closed again, only whining a little bit. "And I—I want—I want to kiss you a _lot_."

Roxanne chuckles. "Me too," she murmurs, raising a hand to brush her knuckles back and forth on the side of his head. "I'm really—" Megamind makes a noise at that, a trilling little _prrpt_ noise like a cat that's been surprised, and she cuts off, staring at him. He lifts his head from her shoulder and glares up at her.

"Not a word," he warns. "Not one. Word. Don't you dare."

"Was that you?" she's laughing; she is; she can't help it. "You sounded so cute!"

"Yes, yes," he grumbles. "Yes, and if you scratch me behind the ears, I…uh. Didn't think you'd. Actually do it. Stop that."

"Holy guacamole," Wayne mumbles, "get a room, you two."

Megamind sits up, already half-laughing. "Now, you listen to me, you _total killjoy_ —"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Minion turns back towards the tank, feeling pleased with himself. He'd sent several of the faster brainbots over to the manor; they should be back in only a few minutes. He'd also sent a couple others to go and fetch a change of clothes for Miss Ritchi, and a few more upstairs to find something for Megamind, since Miss Ritchi's clothes are rumpled and dark with water and Megamind's are in several wet puddles on the floor. Miss Ritchi's home is further away, so it will take longer, but at least she's fully clothed, unlike Megamind, who's wearing briefs. Wet briefs! Not even his undersuit! And he, especially, won't want to be exposed like this more than he'll have to be. Gills out and webs in his feet and everything—he won't be comfortable like that at all.

Minion turns. And.

Stops.

Megamind is curled up and making himself small, which Minion isn't surprised to see, but he's curled up with Miss Ritchi. Curled up right up against her, curled up almost naked with her, and tolerating a surprisingly close proximity to his nemesis to boot. And he's—laughing? They both are. Then he says something that makes Metro Man's eyes fly open, makes him lift and roll onto one elbow and turn to point at Megamind and open his mouth to say—something, while Miss Ritchi throws her head back and laughs and laughs, and Megamind chortles through the teeth of his second-best _what-you-gonna-do-about-it_ smile and laughs with his eyes at Metro Man, who scoffs at him and sits up more fully and leans gingerly back against the tank on Miss Ritchi's other side. Miss Ritchi hiccups once, and her laughter subsides to giggles, and—

—her arm is around Megamind, Minion realizes abruptly. Her arm, she has her arm around him; he's beaming and she has her arm around his bare shoulders, her hand is on his skin.

He stares. That's…new. Okay.

Okay, so maybe he won't have to push too hard, after all. God, his heart is in his throat. This is. Entirely too like his dreams, before.

They weren't big dreams. Just little quiet daydreams in which everything was okay, nothing was going horribly wrong, Megamind was happy and Minion finally found the time to put a garden on the roof—there were lilacs; he knows they're not a rooftop garden plant but it's a fantasy garden so who cares—and Miss Ritchi was usually there, too. Sometimes she would help him fill the bird feeders. And she would teach Megamind how to smile and he would teach her how to relax. And when it was raining, the three of them would watch old movies. Maybe Minion would learn how to crochet.

Maybe it was a silly thing to think about; maybe it was soppy—but what the hell, why not? He's a glutton for punishment.

But. This.

Megamind tends to look excited more often than he looks happy. There's a tired set to his face now that Minion doesn't remember ever seeing before, but his green eyes are dancing and his nose scrunches when he smiles, and this is—beautiful. This isn't anything Minion had ever thought he would see: Miss Ritchi happy and Megamind happy and—

—okay, Metro Man hadn't ever featured in any of his little domestic imaginings, but—there's space! Minion can make space! After today? Oh, _yes_. Happy Metro Man, too. Sure, yes, okay.

He stares at the odd little tableau, aware that he's staring and totally unable to do anything about it, until one of the brainbots zips up to him sideways and barks. He isn't used to the brainbots, anymore, and he almost jumps out of his dome.

The bot is holding a stack of fabric in all three of its claws—denim and something red; that will be Miss Ritchi's clothes. The idea that Sir's clothes should have arrived first waves a fin, and, sure enough, a quick glance around shows him another brainbot, clutching a bundle of blue and black, hovering by his left shoulder—who knows how long it's been there. Well, if Miss Ritchi's clothes are here, Metro Man's will be along shortly…

Minion takes the clothes from the bots, and swallows. And then he steps forward. He has feet again, and hands, and while his fine motor skills are a little shaky…he's himself again. Okay. Okay.

And he has—these three to thank for bringing him home. Miss Ritchi and Metro Man didn't do it for him, he knows, but that's all right; the net effect is the same.

He approaches and holds the clothing out to his friend, wordless, and Megamind startles and looks up at him, then at what Minion is holding. Blue and black leathers over blue and black spandex, his usual. He blinks, and seems to come back into himself, somewhat—almost seems to stiffen, but he's still grinning when he says, "Ah? Ah. Yes! Good, Minion, you think of everything."

It's true. He does. Partly because it's his job, partly because that's who he is, but mostly because he wouldn't have it any other way.

Megamind stands and takes his clothes, then half-turns back towards Miss Ritchi for a moment, almost hesitating. But then he steps away from instead of towards her, aims a shaky grin up at Minion, and heads off to get dressed.

Roxanne watches him walk away, then blinks when Minion hands her a stack of her own clothing as well—and she's smiling up at him before she can think about it, genuinely touched that he'd thought of her. Minion smiles back, although there's something guarded about his expression.

It nags at her as he directs her over to a sheltered area behind a filter drum to get changed. God, if _she_ feels cut adrift and at a loss, she can't even begin to imagine what Minion must feel like.

She swallows hard and glances up at him again. "Hey," she says. "Minion. You okay?"

He gives her another smile, but his eyes are tired and—oh, he's doing that sharp-flicking thing he does with his fins when he thinks something's about to go wrong. "Yes, thank you, Miss Ritchi," he replies.

 _Yes, thank you, Miss Ritchi?_ Roxanne blinks, stung. Anxious or not, what is she, a stranger? "I'm…really glad you're back," she says. And. Oh shit. She'd intended it to sound welcoming and upbeat; she hadn't expected it to bring tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. That wasn't the plan at all.

She bites her lips together for a moment and twists her fingers into the folds of clothing she's holding.

"Are," Minion says after a couple seconds of her not walking away to get changed, "are _you_ okay?"

"I…was…I missed you," she says. "I never got to tell you, before—honestly? I don't think I ever really thought about it? But—I'm so glad I know you, Minion; I'm…I'm so glad we're friends." She smiles as best she can, and blinks furiously against the tears, and hopes he can't see her face from this angle.

"I'm glad, too," he says, after a moment. "I…do you…is this where we, um—shake hands?"

"I thought this might be where I ask if I can hug you," she answers, proud of how her voice doesn't shake much. "Is. Is that okay?"

"Oh," he says, sounding stunned. "Oh? Of…of course, Miss Ritchi, yes, of course that's okay." He still looks half-dazed as he leans down.

The metal plates supporting his dome are surprisingly warm. And he'd said yes, but she shouldn't—shouldn't wrap both arms around him like this, shouldn't cling with her face turned into the corner between the bottom of the dome and his shoulder—she shouldn't do that, not if he'd wanted to shake hands originally. She realizes this a second too late when he makes a noise: a high, cut-off sort of sound, tinny this close to the speaker in his chest.

Her mouth is right next to the microphone on his right shoulder, but he can't make out what she mumbles. "What?" he says, feeling rather like a rubber band about to snap. "What?"

"Right?" she says, voice low. "We're friends, right? I don't," here she swallows and puffs a kind of half-laugh into the microphone, making him jump, "I don't want to presume, but…" A glance over his shoulder shows him that her knuckles are turning white where she's gripping her opposite wrist, hanging around his neck with half her face mashed against his dome.

…Okay. Okay? This is not something he has any idea what to do with. This isn't—she isn't unconscious; this is—voluntary? Okay, that's okay—

—No, really! It is _actually legitimately great_ ; now if he could just figure out what the _fuck_ he's supposed to—

Hug back. That's what. Hugging back, like with Sir. Okay yes good great fine. Can do. Hands on back, like so; press, like so—not too hard; if he squeezes too hard, she'll let go, and he's still trying to process this.

He pats her back a couple of times. "We're friends," he says, bewildered. "Of…of course we're friends, Miss Ritchi, if you want to be."

She slides to the ground and smiles up at him, but Minion is good at reading faces and he's pretty sure she's trying not to cry. "Thanks," she says.

Unsure how to reply, he just smiles back, then stares at her back as she heads off to put on her dry clothes.

What on Earth was that about?

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The rest of their time at the Lair that night is something of a blur. After the three bipeds are dressed and dry—Metro Man thanked him for the clothes; he'd literally said, "Thanks, Minion," and it was just the strangest thing Minion had ever heard in his life (Miss Ritchi thanked him, as well, but that's not quite as new; she's always been polite to him)—they head upstairs and poke around the Lair.

Minion stays quiet and says nothing about the mess the place is in. He also doesn't mention the brainbots, which are clearly in deep-clean mode, but he does have to wonder—it looks as though no one has lived here for some time. Megamind doesn't volunteer any information, and Minion doesn't ask.

He doesn't ask. There will be time to talk about the Lair later.

(If he talks about the Lair now, probably also he will have to talk about the lake, and he isn't sure he can do that; if he talks about the lake, everything will be too real and he'll wake up—well, he won't wake up; that would have happened already if it was going to happen at all, but—it's still too close—)

(Minion doesn't say anything about the Lair.)

He also doesn't say anything about Megamind's continuing use of Miss Ritchi's first name. Or the touching, which has stopped now that everyone is on their feet.

He just doesn't say much, in general, to anyone, for a while.

But the brainbots are deep-cleaning everything when they go upstairs. That's rare. When Megamind cleans— _if_ he cleans—he generally prefers to take care of things himself, because while there's a place for everything, that 'place' is usually where he put it down last. His organizational system isn't so much a _system_ as a cumulative idiosyncrasy.

But the brainbots are cleaning, and the Lair is more organized than Minion has seen it in ages, and it's…weird. Everything feels completely detached and dreamlike, cut-off. Brainbots doing laundry?

 _Well, all right_ , he decides vaguely, _as long as they don't get into the hand-washing_.

What unsettles him the most, though, is how thick the dust is in the areas the brainbots haven't visited yet. Megamind hates dust and it's dangerous for the brainbots; if the seals on their cases crack and dust gets into the wrong places, it could kill them. The Lair doesn't get dusty. It just doesn't; they don't let it.

This is doing wonders for his mental state. What is he supposed to do? He's supposed to just…pick up? Pick everything back up where he left it?

Nothing is where he left it. And even if it is, he's not the one who left it there. Not anymore.

He turns from staring at a notebook that clearly hasn't been touched in several months, opens his mouth open to ask a question, and Miss Ritchi says—

"Look, why don't we all just go home?" She looks from Minion to Megamind, back to Minion, up at Metro Man, back down at Megamind again. "We can tackle everything tomorrow," she suggests.

Megamind perks up and looks relieved at that, and Minion pauses. "Home, Miss Ritchi?" he asks.

Miss Ritchi and Megamind look at him, and then back at each other, and Minion's attention sharpens. The relationship between them has changed, that much was already clear, but how _much_ has it changed?

Finally, Megamind tears his gaze away from her and looks back up at Minion. "Minion. I…I haven't lived here at the Lair for…several months."

That explains the dust, if not the disarray.

"He's been living with me," Miss Ritchi adds, smiling tiredly. "It's been fun."

Minion squints, but he can't detect any sign of sarcasm. Huh. Well, there's how the link took hold. Full time? _Living_ with her, she'd said; not just _staying_ with her, but _living_. "Okay," he says slowly. "Yes, let's go…home."

"We can stay here, if you prefer," Megamind offers, sober, startling Minion into staring at him. "If you want to stay somewhere familiar."

Minion shakes his head quickly and sends him a reassuring smile to hide his surprise. "No, I'm all right. We should let the brainbots finish cleaning up."

Wayne raises his hand. "Hey, if you're all going back to Roxie's place anyway, can I bum a ride? The Hero Express is…still kinda grounded."

Megamind glances at him, then away, and shrugs. "Can the Hero Express drive an invisible car?"

Wayne looks dubious. "I doubt it. I don't…I don't really drive. Much. And right now…"

"He can't drive, he means," Miss Ritchi says.

"Hey, I can drive!" Wayne puffs himself up, then winces and rounds his shoulders down again. "Just…not now. I'm not even super digging this whole 'upright' thing."

Megamind looks at Minion, who steps back, shaking his head. No. He can't do it. Not driving, not while the car is invisible; he can barely think straight and this suit isn't his best one; its reflexes probably haven't been tuned in months.

Megamind sighs. "Looks like it's up to me, then."

Minion's heart seizes. His boss is terrifying behind the wheel. "Sir, _no_ ," he says, as firmly as he can.

Megamind huffs at him. "Well, if _you_ can't, and _he_ can't, and _I_ can't…" They all look at Miss Ritchi.

She blinks around at them, nonplussed. "I can drive if it's not a stick shift."

"That," says Megamind, "might be a problem."

"No, hang on," Wayne says, brightening, "I've got an idea!"

"No," Megamind says, immediate, flat. "You aren't allowed to have any more ideas. Your last idea almost ended with you dead on my floor."

"No, no, it'll be great," Wayne assures him. "You'll love it. I promise."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"I don't love this," Megamind announces from the back seat of the invisible car fifteen minutes later, as it stalls out a third time. "I don't love this at all." He'd had to move Minion's seat far forward so that Roxanne would be able to reach the pedals and see the road over the old Hudson's high dashboard, and now the whole car feels off. He wiggles in his seat, trying to settle his seat belt so his shirt doesn't scrape against his open gills, and glances sideways at Minion, who isn't voicing any opinions but who looks deeply skeptical about this whole enterprise. "All in favor of the brawn leaving the ideas-having to the brains of this outfit, say aye."

"I mean, sure," Wayne says, "but I dunno what kinds of ideas Minion usually has."

Megamind rolls his eyes. "Oh, _har har_ , it is to laugh."

"No, both of you shut up, I can do it. Just…" Roxanne puts her tongue between her teeth, then grins when the car coughs to life. "Ha! See? Told you so."

"Okay, great," Wayne says, leaning his head against the passenger side window and closing his eyes, "now, whenever I say 'clutch,' push the clutch in and let it out slow, like just now." He grips the gear lever. "I'll handle the shifting."

Roxanne looks over at him. "You aren't even watching."

"You just…steer and work the pedals, I'll shift. We got this."

"Why do you know how to shift gears?" Roxanne asks, suspicious.

Wayne snorts. It's not a particularly heroic sound. "You've seen my father's car collection, right? Been a few years, but it's like riding a bike. Probably."

"We are all going to die," Megamind declares. "We are all going to die, and it will be your fault, and I'm going to say 'I told you so' when it happens."

Wayne sighs. "Haven't you ever heard of being the bigger person?"

"What, bigger than you?" It's Megamind's turn to snort. "We already covered this; you're like…six of me."

"The high road, then. Clutch."

"Yeah, I'm not the one in this car who can fly aaaand we've stalled."

"Don't make me turn us around, you two," Roxanne says.

Megamind scrunches his nose, feigning manic bewilderment. "Wouldn't the car have to be moving for that?"

"Sir," Minion admonishes quietly.

"Sorry."

There's quiet for almost a whole minute, and then Wayne huffs a laugh through his nose. "'M hungryyy," he whines under his breath, "I need to peee."

Evidently this means something to Roxanne, because she starts laughing, too. "You should've gone before we left."

"Are we there yeeet?"

"Wayne, so help me, I will end you."

"But _Mo-oom_ —ow, okay, okay."

She pilots them home at what both Megamind and Wayne complain is a "snail's pace," although probably for different reasons. Minion squishes himself into the back seat and stays quiet for the most part, content to have Megamind beside him, singing in his mind and complaining loudly in his ears.

From what he can tell, his prickly charge isn't accustomed to having Metro Man in such close quarters, but there's a new undertone to their bickering that Minion thinks might be honestly good-natured. He supposes there must be allowances when your arch-enemy helps you get your best friend back from what must seem like beyond the grave ( _don't think about that, don't go there_ ). Personally, it'll probably take him some time to work through the all the intricacies of his thoughts on their old enemy, but…he does tentatively approve of this new situation.

The whole night is so surreal. It's like he's stepped into an entirely different universe than the one he'd left a year ago. Everything is just familiar enough to be reassuring, but it's all so _different_. Megamind's self-deprecating humor and open consideration aside, _everyone_ is behaving strangely.

For example, when they get to Miss Ritchi's building, she and Megamind hold a hurried discussion in the underground parking garage, and then she turns to Wayne and says flatly, "You're sleeping on my couch tonight, don't even try to argue."

"I'm too big for your couch," he says, "I'll just get a cab, Roxie, it's fine," which makes her blink at him, then rub the bridge of her nose. The way she's standing with her heels together, the way she tipped her head down for a moment and squared her shoulders…that was a Megamind gesture. He's never seen Miss Ritchi do that before, but he's seen it from his Sir a million times.

"Wayne," she says, huffing a sigh, and even her tone is Megamind's, "what did I _just say?_ "

"Well, I am."

Megamind rolls his eyes and jumps in before she can say anything else. "You can sleep in the guest bed, then." Good lord, his pacifying and slightly exasperated tone is _Miss Ritchi's_. This cannot be real. "I washed the sheets a couple days ago," he continues, and Minion does about fifteen catch-twenty-twos in the space of half a breath, "they're clean. A _cab_ ," he scoffs under his breath, "honestly. Like any ordinary suspension could handle you."

"That'll work," Miss Ritchi agrees. "And you can sleep in my bed," she tells Megamind. "Minion too, if he's got his…you called it a habitat ball?" she asks, and Megamind nods. "The gorilla suit's got too many sharp pieces, but his ball should work just fine. If he wants." She says this last bit while looking reassuringly up at Minion, who is far out of his depth and not the least bit reassured.

"I'm sure there's a ball in the car," Megamind says; "we always have a spare," and he rummages around until he finds it. A couple minutes more, and he has all the supplies he'll need to make the ball habitable.

He shoots a grin up at Minion, and then he and the other two bipeds head for the elevator. Minion keeps pace with them but doesn't say anything. His head is spinning, and he wouldn't mind some further clarification. As pleased as he is that they're thinking of him…will Miss Ritchi _also_ be in her bed?

He considers this.

As strange as it sounds…if he's being honest with himself, he kind of hopes she will be. He knows it's wrong to think that, but—well, come on! It's her bed! Kicking her onto the couch would be rude! Especially when he wouldn't actually mind sharing. And from what he remembers, her bed is more than big enough to fit two adult humanoids comfortably, and he really would rather share than cause her to move to the sofa.

But he's not sure how Megamind might feel about that. And he's still pretty sure Miss Ritchi wouldn't offer her bed to Megamind to share. Yes, he had decided to push them—and they've been living together, there's that—but _sleeping_ together might be a bit much, yet.

 _We'll tackle that later_ , he decides after a few moments' bewildered consideration. _I'll see what I think we can get away with_.

So he troops into the elevator with the three of them, spinning in his bowl to glance behind him as the door closes. It's been a while since he's taken any legitimate routes into the building, and he'd always scoped out the access and escape routes first to make sure they're clear. Megamind has griped at him about being a worrywart before and will probably continue to gripe for the rest of his days, but Minion is a nervous person! He can't help it!

Luckily, Miss Ritchi's hallway is deserted when the doors open, and remains so while she unlocks her multiple (ineffective, redundant) deadbolts, and then they're inside and safe, _finally_.

Minion looks around and stops dead.

Everything looks pretty much the same as he remembers.

There's the red couch, the incongruously umber armchair, the coffee table. The kitchen island with four spindly chairs in which neither he nor Metro Man will ever be able to sit—not that Minion has ever been able to tell the difference between sitting and standing anyway—and the brushed-steel refrigerator with the ice dispenser that has never worked properly.

(The sink isn't dripping, for once. She must have had it fixed.)

And there's the red glass vase by her bedroom door, the pussywillow branches that Minion figures must be decorative because there's no purpose to them that he can see except to look nice.

The art on the walls is the same as the last time he was here, and the plants on her windowsill are the same, if a tiny bit bigger.

(Metro Man goes staggering past and collapses cross-legged on the floor in front of the armchair, then sags gingerly back against it. This barely registers.)

The only difference he can see, other than the non-drippy sink, is the folding screen set up about six feet out from the wall of windows and the end of what looks like a bed poking out from behind it. That must be where Megamind has been sleeping.

Nice view.

Miss Ritchi says something and Metro Man waves a hand at her, but Minion doesn't hear because—the door closes behind him, and—he's inside and—safe, finally, and—

This is where he'd tucked one of the most important people in his life into bed at least once every couple of months for several years.

This is where he'd dared to sleep overnight the time Megamind went on a coffee bender and started blasting Cynic through the Lair at two in the morning. Minion hadn't been able to make himself heard or figure out how to shut off the sound system. It was getting later and later, and Megamind was in fine spirits and Minion was exhausted and at his wits' end, so he'd…just…gone to the only place besides the Lair where he knew he'd be at least safe, if not welcome. He'd arrived well after Miss Ritchi was asleep and he'd quietly departed long before she woke up, but he'd been able to get some rest.

He isn't the only one who's slept there on occasion. This is where Minion almost always finds Megamind when he disappears at night and hasn't told Minion where to look for him (curled up in the corner behind Miss Ritchi's television set; Minion doubts Miss Ritchi knows this).

Minion has probably spent more time here at night than he has when the sun was up, and rarely with the lights on, and yet…

And yet this is one of the only places other than the Lair where he's ever felt safe. And there's a stone weighing heavy in his throat, and his soft palate feels fluttery and strange, and his fins feel stiff.

"…?"

He jumps and turns, suddenly realizing that someone was asking a question. "What? Yes?"

Miss Ritchi is peering up at him, concerned. "I said, do you have any preference for dinner?"

Minion blinks at her, then shakes his head and flicks the rigidity out of his fins. "Oh, no, I'll be fine. I only…I'll look through your fridge and rustle something up." He musters a smile. "I'm fine, Miss Ritchi, really, don't worry about me."

"You don't have to do that," Megamind says smoothly, "we're well-stocked here, I know what we're doing. How's pork sound? M—Wayne, you're allergic to…nothing, I think."

"Yep, or you'd have poisoned me already." He doesn't move or open his eyes, and Minion feels a twinge of guilt; he's never seen the hero look so worn-out and uncomfortable.

Then he realizes what Megamind just said. "Pork sounds…great, Sir, but…"

"Oh, don't worry. I've learned some new tricks, Minion!" Megamind grins at him, eyebrows up. He's rubbing hand over hand over hand; well, if Megamind is excited to show him something new, Minion can roll with that. Some things never change.

He goes over to the couch. Sitting is the appropriate thing to do; humans get weird when you're standing and you don't have to be. He's careful as he settles down but the sofa only groans a little, so he supposes it's okay, and then he turns his attention to the kitchen because it's easier than sitting still and quiet and thinking. If this pork thing turns out to be a disaster, he can probably remember his cooking skills well enough to step in. No matter how badly his Sir pouts at him.

But he doesn't have to step in. He sits on the sofa, Wayne tilts his head against the armrest of Miss Ritchi's chair and breathes, and Megamind…

Megamind bounces from cupboard to countertop to cutting board, big knife flashing slowly around various vegetables. At one point, he says something and Miss Ritchi laughs and shoves him, and—he shoves _back_ , grinning slyly at her from under his eyelashes.

His gloves are off, Minion notices, and he realizes with a kind of distant shock that he hasn't seen his Sir with his gloves on once yet tonight. He still seems fine standing hip-to-hip with Miss Ritchi in front of the stove, and she seems fine with him.

The thought had crossed his mind that maybe he won't have to push as hard as he'd anticipated, but now it's looking like he might not have to push at all. Megamind's smiles seem…not wider, but firmer somehow: they seem like they're sticking. Miss Ritchi certainly isn't acting shy around him.

He watches, and wonders, and thinks, _Maybe_ …

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Megamind reaches for a bell pepper and goes to carve the stem section out in a circle, the way Roxanne had shown him. He'd cut the onions with no issues, and he knows how to cut the pepper, but…this time he pauses, frowning. Then, instead of carving the top of the pepper off like a pumpkin, he sets it sideways on the cutting board and slices once down across the top so that he's left with a topless pepper and a pepper top with a stem sticking out of it. The stem pops out of the top easily enough, and then he runs his knife around the inside of the pepper so he can easily lift out the seedy middle and throw it away.

He's left with all the pepper and no seeds—so no waste, no mess, and no needing to shake seeds out over the garbage can. Much better.

He grins, breathes a shakily happy sigh. He never would have expected to feel so relieved about troubleshooting a vegetable, but… _I'm back_.

Over by the stove, where she's fallen to watching the first round of pork strips and cutting the last of the button mushrooms into quarters, Roxanne asks, "So…how does he seem to you?"

He glances up and shrugs, starts slicing the pepper into crunchy green ribbons. "Quiet," he says simply. "Tired. But otherwise okay. He's talking normally again, that's a good sign."

"Does he need anything with his pork?"

Megamind shakes his head. "He's totally carnivorous. It's why we're doing his first, before the pan gets all oily and…um. Vegetable…y."

"Right, right." Roxanne nods, returns to what she'd been doing.

After a while, she says, "I'm gonna miss you." Megamind glances over at her, startled, and she shrugs a shoulder and doesn't look at him. "You're moving back into the Lair, aren't you? That's your home. Minion's home." She hunches over her knife, bends her head so her bangs fall over her eyes. "So…I'll miss you. You, me, hanging out. You living here."

There's a pause from Megamind, and then he says, "You…could come too. Come home with me."

She sighs. "Megamind."

"I'm serious!" he insists, watching as she turns and forks Minion's dinner onto a plate, and then he quickly ducks around her so he can throw more strips of pork into the pan. "You could. We have the space; you know we do."

Roxanne shakes her head and returns to the mushrooms. "I'd…I'd like that. And thank you. But I can't just move into the Lair."

"Why not?" Megamind says. That doesn't make any sense—first she says she'll miss living together, then she says she can't live with him…but she knows he can't live with her anymore, she _knows_ that. This isn't his home. He has a bed here, but it isn't his home. Minion is his home, and Minion is in the Lair.

But Roxanne is his home, too, he remembers suddenly. But. Roxanne's home is here? Not in the Lair. Not with him in the Lair.

He gulps. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

"Because I'm looking at the mushrooms."

Megamind is quiet for a moment, and then he says, "Look at me."

Roxanne doesn't move. "If I look at you right now, I'll start crying, and I don't want to make Wayne and Minion worry," she says in a matter-of-fact sort of voice. "I'm going to _miss_ this, I really am. And I—"

"Please," he says, low, urgent, not quite touching her arm even though he's halfway ducking around her at this point, trying to catch her eye (that's a new one, trying for eye contact, but he can't be amused) and Roxanne looks at him, her lips pressed together.

"Why?" he says, with a jerky shake of his head. "Why can't you? If you'd like it, then why?"

She rumples her chin and looks quickly back down at the cutting board. "It's different now. That's all."

"We could be different together," he tries, but her expression doesn't change. His stomach twists. "I…Rox…M-Miss…" His whole face scrunches; the formality lodges in his throat and refuses to let him complete it. "I'll miss you, too," he manages. "This. Home with you."

And his heart is—it's tearing down the middle, but—but then she swallows and reaches out, quickly squeezes his hand. "You'll always have a home here," she tells him, and then she turns fully away and starts bringing over the other vegetables while Megamind is still blinking in confusion. "Sorry, I don't…I don't mean to be maudlin!" she says, over-bright and too cheerful. "Minion's back, we should be celebrating!"

After a moment, when he says nothing, she finally adds, "I just…it's gonna be really lonely around here without you, that's all."

"I know about lonely," Megamind says, after another pause. "Please. Come to the Lair any… _any_ time. You know where to find me. And—I'll come to you, too. Can I?" He touches her arm again. "You won't be lonely, I won't let you, I'll…I'll always come home to you. If you want me?" She doesn't reply, and Megamind is pretty sure he's about to break into a million pieces.

All he can think is—before, when he'd snapped at her, when she'd left in the middle of the night to go for a walk and he'd waited up—words had helped, then. He'd said everything he shouldn't have, and it _helped_. So he wrenches his shoulders back and drags his head up and tries his best to put words to the hollow fear rising in the back of his throat. "I feel like I'm losing you."

And it—that makes her turn. Suddenly she's blinking at him, looking totally taken aback. That's heartening, but he can't let go of the tension in his shoulders. "Tell me I'm wrong," he says, squeezing his eyes closed. "Tell me I'm stupid? Because I—am—really worried, Roxanne."

She stares at him. He's standing like he expects her to take a swing at him, which is just completely off-base.

Then again. She hadn't been paying attention to his tone earlier, but—oh, shit, yeah, that would have sounded like—crap. She doesn't have the brain for this right now. "You're wrong and stupid," she says. She'd meant it to sound firm, reassuring; it comes out wobbly, instead. "Do you need a hug?" she asks, but she knows it wasn't the right question even as she's saying it. When Megamind's eyes pop open he looks badly confused and uncertain. " _I_ need a hug," Roxanne says, and—she's proud of herself for not bursting straight into tears when Megamind's gaze flicks involuntarily to the chair that has Wayne leaning against it.

"I need you to give me a hug, please, Megamind," she says, "if you want to. Right now. We'll figure Minion out later, I just—"

Megamind wraps his fist in her shirt and drags her in against him, and Roxanne can breathe.

Okay.

Okay. This is okay. She squeezes his narrow torso, then remembers a second later about his gills—she's going to need more information about those—and twists her hands into the back of his shirt instead, which feels like a safe compromise. God, he's so thin but his arms around her are like steel.

"Sorry," she whispers, turning her face into his long neck and breathing out a shuddering sigh as she tries to get herself under control. "I'm. Being selfish."

"No. Don't." He shakes his head, shifts his grip to hold her tighter. "So, you…do want to continue. This? With me."

"What?" She almost recoils, but stops herself at the last second because, wow, would _that_ ever be a terrible idea. "Yes! Yes, Megamind, for crying out loud, I _love_ you. I told you." And that must have been at least some of what was making him so tense, because he goes totally boneless for a second and then curls into her with redoubled strength, turns his face so his lips are in her hair, makes a softly relieved sound and clenches both fists against her back. _Nice going, Roxie_ , she chides herself, and strokes a hand down his spine. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just…I can't be doing this right now."

Minion is back; they need to finish linking. _I can't be in the way, in your business, that's not…right. That's not fair to either of them._ _And I want to get this right_ , she adds silently. It's not like she's lost a piece of her mind the way Megamind had when Minion vanished. She hadn't meant to pull away and make him worry, but the last thing he needs right now is a crying girlfriend on top of a best friend who basically just came back from the dead.

"I just need to take a few steps back," she says, "that's all."

"Because you want to," Megamind says, sounding totally baffled about the whole thing, "or because you think you should?"

Roxanne hesitates. "It's the right thing to do," is what she finally settles on. "Sweetheart, really, it's—it's fine."

Megamind pulls back and studies her face for a second, frowning. Then he says, abruptly, "Wait here. I need to talk to Minion," and steps back. "It's sticking," he calls over his shoulder as he dodges around the island, heading for the sofa.

"It's…? _Oh_ shit, the pork," Roxanne mumbles, and turns back to the pan, feeling bizarrely cold without him.

At least this gives her a few seconds to try and get her bearings. A glance at the clock on the stove tells her it's not even nine o'clock yet, but she feels like she's just left a club at two in the morning: the world isn't real and she can hardly see straight. God, she'd better not be getting a migraine.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Minion blinks as Megamind all but skids to a halt in front of him.

"Honest answer, Minion," Megamind says. "I'm deferring to you on this one." He's bouncing on the balls of his feet again, but his pointed face is sober.

Minion's brow furrows. "Okay," he says slowly. "What is it?"

"If Roxanne came to live in Evil Lair, with us," Megamind keeps his eyes on Minion's face, "is that something you'd feel positively about?"

This gets a stare.

"I am serious," Megamind adds, fidgeting a little.

Well, all right. Minion has to consider this for a moment. Daydreams are one thing; real life is another matter entirely. Life rarely goes according to plan, in Minion's experience, and life is sharp and hateful.

But he likes Miss Ritchi—cares for her, even. She's never been hateful, not once, not even when a screw that wasn't entirely flush with Minion's shoulder panel tore a hole in her dress. And of course Megamind likes her, and of course the Lair has room. The brainbots might be a concern if it were someone else, but Miss Ritchi has always gotten along well with them.

He tries to think about this from Megamind's point of view. Some companionship might be healthy for him, break up the monotony, and Minion might be having some trouble getting his bearings but he's sure Megamind would be absolutely thrilled if this actually did happen.

One question nags at him enough that he has to ask. "What happens when she moves out?"

Megamind shrugs. "We'll see," he says, and Minion peers at him, but—there's no panic he can see, no disguised worry, so…

So, he nods. "Yes. Then. I think I would feel positively about it."

"May I tell her you wouldn't mind?" Megamind wrinkles his nose. "She seems to think you would."

The question catches him by enough surprise that he pulls back and blinks again a few times. He can count the times Megamind has asked 'may I' on the fingers of one hand. "O-of course, Sir. Do you…think that's something she's likely to want?"

Megamind shrugs, too quickly. "I don't know. Maybe!" Then his attention is back. "You're sure?" He frowns, tips his head a little, taps his thumbs together in front of his chest. "I don't want your answer to be preedicated on the assumption that she'll say no."

"I'm sure, but…" But he would have liked a little bit of warning? But he's too confused to really think clearly about this? Yes, that would be lovely, but logistically speaking, he just has no idea how it would work? "But what about Metro Man?" he asks. "She won't want to move in with _us_ , she…if she moves in with anyone, it's going to be her boyfriend."

"Oh!" Megamind actually jumps. "Oh. Yes. I forgot. You wouldn't know. They aren't together," he says quickly. "They never dated, not really. They're _friends_ , but they aren't…no, Minion, that's not a problem. No problems there."

Well, that's unexpected. Good, though? Is that good? Uncertainty pricks at him; he can't actually decide whether that's good or not, and maybe he'd better not think too hard about all this until he's got his feet under him. Figuratively speaking.

But he's gone this far. "Either way, Sir, I…don't want you to be disappointed, and…" He fumbles, trying to think of a good way to say 'this may be going a bit too far, even if she did just let you hug her.' "She seems to be warming up to you a lot! I'm…simply not sure if she…"

Megamind's lips twitch. "We'll see. Thank you. Best fish."

 _Oh, whatever. I suppose we will_. Minion gives up and gives him a fond little smile and a fin-squeal that makes Wayne jump and snort. Megamind glances over at him, momentarily distracted, but then he shrugs and looks back at Minion with dancing green eyes. "Best," he says again, and then he turns and all but skips back to the kitchen, where Minion can't hear what he says and can't hear Miss Ritchi's response.

But he can see her eyes get big right before she looks over at him. He grins at her as best he can and waves, thinking all the while that this is a totally mad endeavor, what is Sir _thinking?_ Asking her to come live with them right _now?_ It's too soon! She's not going to say _yes_ to this, she might be sort of laughing now and shaking her head at Megamind, and sure, she looks happy enough and she'd let him hug her before, but on what grounds would she ever want to—

Huh. She doesn't appear to be saying no.

Minion stares. She nods, she smiles, and then she—she hugs Megamind, this time, and his arms go around her so tight and so fast, one hand—one bare hand in her hair, actually _in her actual hair_ , and—oh.

Oh, no, he'd been wrong. This isn't good; this isn't good at all. This is going to end with Megamind having the biggest broken heart ever. _Crap. Shrimp cakes_. This…could be sort of bad, actually. Sir's always had a thing for Miss Ritchi, but now it looks like he's actually fallen in love with her. There's no way that won't end in tears.

…Well.

To be fair, there is _one_ way, but it's absurd. Minion should forget all about it, should work on figuring out how to discourage Miss Ritchi from spending too much time with Megamind, should figure out how to encourage Megamind to let her go _but for real this time, Sir_. Because this wouldn't work.

(But, he remembers, with a sick-dizzy feeling like a punch in the stomach, he'd lost his right to do that when he'd abandoned Megamind in the bottom of the lake. Ah. Right. He'd—built a nest, alone, he'd defended it and kept it, and— _fuck_ , no, okay (breathe), no, the point is—the _point_. Is.)

(He has no right to make decisions on Megamind's behalf. That. Is the point.)

(So. He must make this way work, don't look back, it's done—move forward. Always move forward. Don't look back.)

Maybe he's just being selfish. It's certainly possible. Megamind won't be the only one who's hurt when she leaves; Minion likes Miss Ritchi; he really does. It wouldn't be hard to bring her into his nest the same way he has with Megamind. If he's being honest with himself, he's pretty sure he's already inadvertently laid the groundwork for it—ages ago, in fact.

He gulps, and feels his fins droop. _Great. Wonderful. Superb_. If he had a year to plan, maybe he could come up with something, but this…

The odds of anyone wanting to date Megamind are slim to none. The odds that any of the few people who might want to date Megamind will also be open to any kind of platonic bond with Minion are…well, they're just unspeakably low. And the odds that Minion would like anyone else as much as he likes Miss Ritchi are exactly zero.

 _I'm losing my mind_ , he thinks, drifting low in his bowl and swimming a tight, anxious circle. _Focus, Minion! Focus!_ Megamind asked her to come to the Lair, and she hadn't said no. And they're in Miss Ritchi's apartment, and she's letting Megamind hug her. She'd even asked to hug Minion, himself, earlier. That's got to count for something, right?

It must. He doesn't need to do anything about this right now. But it would be a lot easier to focus if he wasn't glancing up every seven seconds because the light is wrong for forty feet of green, empty water.


End file.
